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SERMONS. 



SAMUEL WARREN LAW, 

OP N. Y. E. CONFERENCE. 



JOHN A. GRAY, PRINTER, 16 AND 18 JACOB STREET, 

FIKE-PROOF BUILDINGS. 

1857. 



#fl* 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 

N. B. LAW, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for 

the Southern District of New-York. 



]*»«« 



£4*** ****** 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 031696 



INDEX 



PAOB 

I. Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, ... 7 
II. On Preaching, ....... 29 

III. Paul before Felix, 49 

IY. Self- Flattery of Sinners, . . . . 65 

V. Distinction between the Righteous and the Wicked, 88 
VI. Sinners Exhorted, . . . . . . 104 

VII. On Penitence, . . . . . .119 

VIII. The Intercession of Christ, .... 140 

IX. The Security of the Good Man, . . . .154 

X. The Faith of the Patriarchs, . . . . 167 

XL Brevity of Human Life, 181 

XII. The Present State of our Departed Pious Friends, 188 

XIII. The Covetous Rich Man, 209 

XIV. On Pardon, 220 



NOTE. 

The author does not publish these Sermons as finished dis- 
courses. They are merely a portion of his pulpit preparations, 
as an extemporaneous preacher. He is now an invalid, and it is 
not likely that he will ever preach much more from the pulpit. 
Should it please God to permit him to do so, he would rejoice 
over it more than over great treasures ; but there is no great 
prospect of it, at least for the present He has concluded 
therefore to send forth to the world these Sermons, not for the 
critic's eye to search, but with a hope that they may aid in his 
attempts still to do good, and contribute to the promotion of the 
Saviour's kingdom. The volume is affectionately dedicated to his 
personal friends and former parishioners. 

S. W. Law. 

March, 1857. 



SERMON I. 

INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTUKES. 

11 Holt men of G-od spake as they were moved by the Holy G-host." 
2 Peter 1 : 21. 

The allusion here is to the prophets and writers of 
the Old Testament Scriptures ; and the truth asserted 
is, that what they wrote is truly and divinely inspired. 
The apostle Paul declares this same truth in other and 
more direct, but not, we think, in more emphatic lan- 
guage; as when he says : "All Scripture is given by 
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for 
reproof, for correction in righteousness. " The connec- 
tion shows that it is to this truth that the apostle Peter 
refers in the text. The connection runs in these words : 
""We have also a more sure word of prophecy; where- 
unto ye do well to take heed, as unto a light that shin- 
eth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day- 
star arise in your hearts : Knowing this first that no 
prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpreta- 
tion : For the prophecy came not of old time by the 
will of man : but holy men of God spake as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost." 

What, however, is thus declared in reference to the 
writers of the Old Testament, may be also declared in 
reference to the writers of the New : so that the im- 
portant truth we have here introduced to our attention 



8 INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

is to be considered as embracing the whole of the sacred 
volume, extending from .Moses to the last of the apos- 
tles. " All Scripture," not only as written by holy men 
of old, but by holy men after Christ, is " given by inspi- 
ration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, 
and instruction." 

It is to be doubted, however, whether we consider 
this truth, as a general thing, as carefully and as seri- 
ously as we should do : whether, that is, we are suffi- 
ciently impressed with the fact that the Scriptures we 
have in our hands, and in which our fathers and mo- 
thers have instructed us, are a revelation from God; that 
here he is speaking to us, and communicates to us his 
own will and messages of truth and mercy. It is true 
we profess to believe in the inspiration of this book, 
and are always prepared to say that it is the word of 
God : but then is not our faith too vague and indefi- 
nite, and does it not influence too little our thoughts 
and feelings? Apprehending that this is the case, I 
propose to discuss this subject for a short time this 
morning. I propose to consider the truth announced, 
that the Scriptures are divinely inspired; that they 
were written by men moved by the Holy Ghost ; who, 
that is, were subjects of the immediate and plenary in- 
fluence of the Holy Ghost ; and that, therefore, they 
are a direct and special revelation from God to man- 
kind. May the same blessed Spirit who indited these 
sacred writings be present with us, and graciously assist 
us to comprehend and appreciate this truth. 

I. In entering upon the subject, it is a point worthy 
to be referred to at the outset, that the sacred writers 
themselves claimed that they were inspired. So far as 



INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 9 

the text is concerned, this would appear to be true 
with respect to the writers of the Old Testament only ; 
for it is to them, as we have said, that these words 
refer ; but then it is also true, as we have intimated, 
with respect to the writers of the New Testament also. 
They all claimed to speak in the name and under the 
inspiration of the Most High, the latter as well as the 
former, and in the one case as distinctly as in the other. 
" Thus saith the Lord," is the solemn and imposing 
manner in which they wrote as well as spoke ; and 
they adopted this manner because it was their* perfect 
conviction that God spake in them and through them 
in the words they uttered and recorded. 

And this is a point, you will admit, in regard to 
which they could not be mistaken. They could not 
suppose themselves inspired, in the sense in which 
they pretended to be, and yet be deceived. It is true 
a deluded man, a fanatic, might suppose himself to be 
the subject of inspiration, while, in fact, he was merely 
the victim of a morbid infatuation ; but these men were 
not fanatics, nor can any philosophical observer of hu- 
man nature ascribe to them this character. They knew 
whether their claim to be inspired was true or false. 
They knew whether they were acting the part of honest 
men, or practising a deception. Moreover, it does not 
follow, that because, in one case, a person may suppose 
he is inspired when he is not, there may be any doubt 
or uncertainty in the case when a person is truly in- 
spired. If, indeed, he is so inspired, he can not be 
deceived or doubtful in regard to it ; and if he is not a 
deluded or dishonest man, he will not claim to be so 
inspired when he is not. 
1* 



10 INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

There is, then, much importance attached to this 
claim of the sacred writers. Thej all pretended to 
speak with the same authority, and to be moved by the 
same Spirit. They all said, in effect, in the language 
of Paul : " Which things we teach, not in words which 
man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost 
teacheth." We must not forget, furthermore, in regard 
to this claim, that not only did the sacred writers be- 
lieve that they personally were inspired, but they be- 
lieved also in the inspiration of each other. And this 
I conceive to be an interesting consideration. Those 
who followed Moses, and wrote the books succeeding 
his in the sacred canon, believed that he was inspired ; 
and so those who followed them believed that they 
were inspired ; and so on to the end of the volume. 
The writers of the New Testament believed that the 
writers of the Old Testament were inspired, and so, 
too, they believed that they, as they succeeded one an- 
other, were inspired. The text, and the passage quoted 
from Paul, shows that this is the case with regard to 
the writers of the Old Testament, while there are deci- 
sive intimations in some of the Epistles, that it is also 
the case with regard to the writers of the JSTew. There 
is, for instance, a passage in one of the Epistles of Peter, 
in which he refers to the apostle Paul as writing accord- 
ing to the wisdom given unto him, in all his Epistles ; 
and in which he says, that the unlearned and unstable 
wrest the things that Paul had written, as they do the 
other Scriptures, to their destruction. Here, you will 
observe, that he ascribes the writings of Paul to "the 
wisdom given unto him 11 — the special wisdom of Grod, 
the inspiration of the Spirit; and you will observe, 



INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SOltlPTURES. 11 

too, that lie places them upon a footing with " the other 
Scriptures" the Scriptures of the Old Testament, writ- 
ten by the prophets. This is conclusive that thej be- 
lieved in the claim of one another. 

In this connection, now, I would remark still further, 
in relation to the Old Testament, that our Lord, who, 
as the Son of Grod, could not err nor be deceived, con- 
tinually referred to its writings, and quoted them as 
inspired and authoritative records. He never intimated 
to the Jews that they held these writings in too great 
reverence, or attached to them a superstitious sanctity; 
but he directed them to search these Scriptures, to re- 
gard their teachings, and to follow them in preference 
to their own unauthorized traditions. And then, in 
relation to the New Testament, we know that Christ 
promised to his disciples who wrote its different books 
the special and miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit ; that 
he informed them that this Spirit should guide them 
into all truth; that he should bring to their remem- 
brance whatsoever he had said unto them; that he 
should take of things of Grod and show them unto 
them ; thus placing them on equality with the writers 
under the former covenant, and putting his sanction 
alike upon them all. 

II. With this understanding, then, of the claim of 
the sacred writers, we are prepared to consider, in the 
next place, the light in which their claim is to be 
viewed. We are prepared, in other words, for the 
inquiry, In what sense were they inspired ? How far 
were they moved by the Holy Grhost when they wrote, 
and to what extent do they speak to us in the name 
and with the authority of the Most High ? 



12 INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

Surely this is an important point in our subject, and 
one on which we should attentively meditate. If Grod 
has spoken to us anywhere by express revelation, it is 
here. If he has not spoken here, then has he left us 
to ourselves, and we have no standard and guide of 
truth, but the indefinite and uncertain light of nature. 
How interesting, then, is the inquiry before us ; not 
only the inquiry, Do these men claim to speak by in- 
spiration ? but the inquiry, How far does their claim 
extend ? 

In respect to this point, I observe that there are two 
leading views or theories entertained by enlightened 
and evangelical Christians with regard to it, either of 
which, according as it is adopted, gives to the Scrip- 
tures a divine origin and sanction. It matters but lit- 
tle, perhaps, which of these views we take, we arrive, 
in the end, to the same conclusion ; which is, that the 
Scriptures are the word of Grod, directly and exclu- 
sively. There is, then, the view entertained by some, 
that the Scriptures are inspired verbally; that is, that 
the writers of these books were so moved by the Holy 
Ghost, that not only their thoughts, but also their words 
and forms of expression, were dictated to them. Not 
only did they record the facts and truths that the Spirit 
suggested to their minds, as suggested, purely and 
alone, but they recorded them in the very language 
that the Spirit suggested also. And it must be ac- 
knowledged that there is some reason for this view, and 
that those who hold it have much to say in its favor. 
JSTor does the diversity of style apparent in the different 
books, though constituting an argument against it, 
prove that it is an altogether inconsistent view. The 



INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 18 

Holy Spirit might move the human mind so as to hold 
control oyer the words as well as thoughts, and yet not 
necessarily change the characteristic style of a particu- 
lar writer. He could do this by a supernatural eleva- 
tion of the mind, giving a breadth of view, and a 
knowledge of facts and truths, not otherwise to be 
reached, and also a loftier and more striking diction in 
which to state the things thus revealed. This view, 
then, whether we receive it or not, is not in itself un- 
reasonable. There is no philosophical impossibility in 
the thing supposed : it might have been so had God 
seen best. 

There are, those, however, who do not think, upon 
a careful survey of the character and style of the Scrip- 
tures, that this is altogether a likely view. Hence 
another theory is advanced on the subject, which is, 
that the thoughts of the sacred writers were inspired, 
but not their words ; the facts and truths they recorded 
were suggested and dictated by the Holy Spirit, but 
they were left to their own style or use of language in 
recording them. Thus they would say that the matter 
of the Holy Scriptures is divine, but the manner is 
human. The only assistance that the writers received 
in the latter respect, was that which naturally accrued 
to them from the high and exalted state to which their 
minds were elevated while thus under the influence of 
the Spirit. And this view they think accounts for the 
diversity of style prevailing, and yet gives to the Scrip- 
tures a divine origin. And such is the case. We see 
plainly, in this view, how the different writers exhibit 
so prominently their personal characteristics; how, 
though acting under the . immediate influence of the 



14 INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

Holy Spirit, some express themselves in a style of 
loftiness and grandeur, some of strength, and vehe- 
mence, and some of elegance and quiet beauty; and 
how, in all this disparity of manner, God speaks to us 
in one holy and harmonious revelation. 

Nor is this view liable to the objection of lessening 
the profound respect and reverence due to the Scrip- 
tures as the word of God. It fully regards them as 
his word, eminently and sacredly his, and gives 
no countenance to loose and indifferent sentiments 
on this subject. It allows no admixture of human 
wisdom and speculations, and hears only the voice of 
God, and acknowledges only divine authority and 
truth. The men through whom the Almighty has 
thus spoken employ, it is true, human language, and 
it may be they employ it without superhuman dicta- 
tion as to words and phrases, yet they record no fact, 
no doctrine, no precept, no counsel, no thought what- 
ever, not first impressed upon the mind in a super- 
human form by the Holy Spirit. They spoke as they 
were moved by the Holy Ghost. 

Here, then, we have the two orthodox views in which 
the Scriptures are held to be inspired. "Which of these 
views best expresses the truth it is not my purpose now 
to inquire. Their comparative merits are not, I think, 
an essential point. With either as my belief, I can 
bow with complete submission to this holy book, as 
a revelation from God, and can reverently listen to its 
teachings as to the utterance of his counsel and will. 
I can see how, in either sense, Paul might say, " All 
Scripture is given by inspiration of God;" and Peter 
declare, "We have a sure word of prophecy, that came 



INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 15 

not by the will of men, but by men moved — directed, 
influenced, supernaturally illuminated — by the Holy 
Ghost:" and in either sense I am prepared to say: 
"Thy Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my 
path." 

III. We are prepared now, having advanced thus 
far into the subject, to advert, in the next place, though 
we must do it briefly, to the proof or evidences we 
have that the sacred writers were thus inspired. And 
surely this is a most important and absorbing part of 
the subject. No more momentous question can be 
proposed than this, Is the Bible indeed a revelation 
from God ? Are we to consider it truly as a divine 
message, bearing a divine authority, speaking to us 
divine truth ? Or is it, after all, a cunningly devised 
fable, a mere imposing array of fallacies, a mockery to 
the hopes of mankind, a false light amidst the dark- 
ness and mysteries of earth? Surely, every human 
being must feel an interest in this question, and whe- 
ther he is a believer or an unbeliever, he must find his 
thoughts often turning to it. He must wish to know 
how the truth with regard to this question stands. 
And it is a question, I bless God, that may be satis- 
factorily settled. He has not left it to uncertain specu- 
lation ; he has surrounded it with a splendid array of 
evidences, which, if carefully and seriously considered, 
must produce the conviction that this is indeed the 
word of God. I do not hesitate to say that it is im- 
possible for any intelligent and candid man honestly 
and thoroughly to investigate the evidences on which 
the claim of the Bible rests, and yet withhold the as- 
sent of his understanding to its divinity and inspira- 



16 INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

tion. The difficulty is, that unbelievers do not tho- 
roughly examine this subject, or if they do, it is with 
their verdict already formed, and without an openness 
to conviction. Take, for instance, David Hume and 
Thomas Paine. The former, the .most subtle and in- 
genious of all skeptical writers, as well as the most 
classical, frankly confessed that he had never carefully 
read the New Testament through in his life ; and the 
latter, the most vulgar and sophistical of such writers, 
finding the Scriptures a continual and burning rebuke 
upon the gross vices of his life, determined to resist 
their authority, and sat down to canvass their claim 
with the avowed purpose that he would expose and 
overthrow it. Now I submit that such men, whether 
gifted like the one, or weak like the other, are unpre- 
pared to receive the truth ; and that they can not, from 
their manner of attending to the subject, be expected 
to decide correctly in regard to it. But let one pene- 
trated with the importance of the subject, serious and 
candid, with no levity of feeling or opposition of heart, 
only anxious to know what is true — let such a one 
examine the evidences of the inspiration of the Bible, 
and I venture to affirm he will find himself impressed 
and convinced by them. Of course I can not enter ex- 
tensively into a consideration of this part of the subject 
at this time, and yet I would offer a few suggestions. 

There is, then, I would just remark, in the first 
place, some proof bearing on this question from the 
character of the sacred writers. It is perfectly obvious, 
from all that appears concerning them, that they were 
true and honest men, who believed in God and feared 
him, and who were too upright, and too much re- 



INSPIKATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTUKES. 17 

strained by the faith they professed, to deceive willfully 
their fellow-men. It is also perfectly obvious that they 
could not, in such a case as this, be themselves de- 
ceived, as has been before remarked, and thus unwit- 
tingly practise imposition upon others. They were 
sober, candid, solid men. Again, it is obvious that 
they had not the least motive in the world to practise 
deception, and that if they did so, they did it without 
object or reasonable aim, and in perfect disregard to 
their only present or ultimate welfare. They gained 
nothing in a worldly point of view; they sacrificed 
every thing near and dear to them, so far as this life is 
concerned; they parted with honor, ease, wealth, 
friends — every thing constituting earthly good — and 
exposed themselves to suffering, persecution, exile, and 
death. Take the case of Moses or Paul, and I declare 
I can not, upon any philosophical principle' whatever, 
account for the course they pursued, upon the supposi- 
tion that they were impostors. Deceived they could 
not be, for they were men of strong minds and extra- 
ordinary intelligence ; and if they were deceivers, not 
knowing, as in their circumstances they could not 
know, nor even vaguely surmise, the success that fol- 
lowed them, it is impossible to assign an adequate 
reason or motive for their action, and therefore impos- 
sible to comprehend it. From the character and posi- 
tion of these men, then — upright, strong-minded, with 
nothing to gain by deception, and holding to a faith 
in which willful deception could not originate, there is 
presumptive proof that they spake as they were moved 
by the Holy Ghost. 

But this is not the only proof we have touching this 



18 INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

subject. There is direct proof also, such as the most 
skeptical must yield to, and such as meets all reason- 
able demand in the case. The sacred writers brought 
with them, as it was fitting they should do, sure and 
infallible evidence that they acted under a divine com- 
mission, and were the bearers of a divine message ; and 
that they did not deliver or record only human words. 
They came, so to speak, with their credentials, certify- 
ing that they were the special and accredited messen- 
gers of heaven. They came with the superhuman 
power to work miracles, and did work miracles, thus 
evincing to the world that they were divinely com- 
missioned and inspired. 

A miracle is an event superior or contrary to the 
established course of nature, performed by the almighty 
power of Grod, which none but Grod can perform, and 
which He only performs in attestation of His own 
truth, and his own messengers of truth. H, therefore, 
it is true that holy men of old did perform miracles, 
the conclusion becomes clear and inevitable that they 
acted under the sanction of Grod and the influence of 
his Holy Spirit. 

But here, you will probably say, is the great point in 
the whole question. Did the sacred writers indeed 
work miracles, and is there any evidence sufficient to 
make us sure of it ? I reply, in answer to this, most 
confidently and earnestly — They did work miracles — 
there is sufficient proof of it — we may know it. 

The only proof we have on the subject — the only 
proof of which the subject is susceptible — is of course 
testimony ; and the first inquiry that arises is, Is testi- 
mony in itself, in any case, a sufficient basis of belief? 



INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 19 

Is it competent ever to establish a fact, and to satisfy 
and assure us in regard to it ? And you will all an- 
swer without hesitation that it is. Much that we know 
and believe comes to us through testimony alone ; nor 
have we the least suspicion with reference to the reality 
of our faith and information in this direction. We 
feel as sure of what we admit, in all cases where the 
testimony is good and adequate, as we do in regard to 
what comes to us through the medium of the senses or 
through mathematical demonstration. We are all as 
certain that there once lived such a man as Alexander 
the Great, or Julius Csesar, or Cromwell, or Napoleon, 
as if we had seen them with our own eyes ; and yet 
our only evidence as to the fact of their existence is 
testimony. So, too, we have no doubt that there exist 
in the world such cities as London and Paris, and yet 
but a few here, if any, know it in any other way than 
by the testimony of others. So that it is perfectly clear 
that testimony may be such as completely to establish 
a given fact, and completely to satisfy our minds in 
relation to it. 

The next inquiry then that arises here is, Is the tes- 
timony in our possession concerning the miracles of 
the Scriptures good and adequate, and worthy our ac- 
ceptance and confidence ? And in reply to this, I do 
not scruple to say that if testimony is ever reliable, and 
can establish any fact in existence, it is reliable here, 
and triumphantly establishes the truth of the miracles 
of the Bible. I can not of course canvass this subject 
at this time, and can do nothing more than turn your 
attention to it, and invite you to its careful examina- 
tion or review ; but I would just advert to a few of 



20 INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

the points which you will find in connection with it. 
You will find then, when you come to investigate this 
testimony, that it was given by eye-witnesses who saw 
themselves the miracles in question; that these wit- 
nesses were competent men, having too much under- 
standing to be deluded — and candid men, having too 
much honesty to deceive others; that they recorded 
their testimony at the time, in the places, and to the 
very people, when, and where, and among whom these 
miracles were performed ; that they are full and clear 
and particular in their relation of all the circumstances ; 
that imposition, had it existed, must have been detected 
at the time; that their testimony was never invali- 
dated, nor proved false or suspicious ; that they gained 
nothing in a worldly view by giving it, but subjected 
themselves to the severest suffering, and the most cruel 
and trying persecution ; that hundred and thousands, 
who could have discovered the deception had they 
been false witnesses, were convinced by them, and like 
them suffered the loss of all things for their faith ; and 
that even their very enemies, unable to contradict their 
testimony, virtually acknowledged its whole truth by 
attributing these wonderful works to the power of the 
"Wicked One. You will find, moreover, that this tes- 
timony, recorded at the time, and published to contem- 
poraries, has come down faithfully to us, the authen- 
ticity and genuineness of the books of Scripture being 
points which skeptics have no longer the face to assail. 
To say nothing of the inspiration of these books, but 
considering them merely as human productions, it is 
admitted that they are reliable historical records ; that 
they are, to say the least, as deserving confidence and 



INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 21 

respect as any records that have come down to us from 
the past ; that to the critic's eye there is far more de- 
cided internal evidence of veracity and fidelity to truth ; 
and that considering them in this light, with no higher 
than human authorship, they are unimpeachable and 
without fault. Now I do not hesitate to say that tes- 
timony thus originally recorded, and thus transmitted 
to the succeeding generations of men, may be justly 
denominated " a faithful saying, and worthy all accep- 
tation." I feel perfectly warranted to say that if we 
may believe any fact or occurrence that has ever taken 
place in the world, we may believe the miracles that 
are recorded in Scripture ; and that if there is no truth 
in these, there is no truth in human testimony whatever. 
And I can not omit to remind you that men whose 
business it is to examine and investigate the evidence 
of testimony ; who become familiar, therefore, with such 
investigations, and skillful in them — men, I mean, of 
the legal profession, are almost invariably believers, 
theoretically, in the truth of the Scripture and Christi- 
anity. "Whether they have made a formal profession 
of the Christian faith, or, like too many others, are put- 
ting this off amid the busy calls of life, wherever they 
have given special attention to this subject, you will 
find them too deeply impressed with the fullness and 
completeness of the evidence to declare themselves 
skeptical. Eun over in your minds the names of the 
great and distinguished men of this profession, known 
many of them in all parts of the world, and see who 
among them were infidels. Nearly all of them, with 
the peerless Webster of our own land, were acknow- 
ledged believers in the Bible and the religion of Christ. 



22 INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

The truth is, the historical testimony in favor of the 
miracles of Christ and his apostles, as well as of Moses 
and the prophets before Him, is such that their ready 
and well-trained minds can not find a flaw in it : they 
are compelled to receive it as perfect and conclusive. 
And now I surely need not add after this, if testimony 
can warrant us to believe any thing in the past, if it is 
such that it does warrant us to believe the miracles of 
the Scriptures, if Grod only can give power to work 
miracles, and if he gives it only to those whom he has 
sent to confirm a revelation from him, that therefore 
the writers of the Bible were sent by him, and that 
what they wrote is divine and holy truth. On this 
ground alone we are compelled to believe that they 
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 

But there are other evidences besides this, to which 
we might refer, had we time, equally clear and decisive. 
There is the evidence, for instance, arising from the 
fulfillment of prophecies, which can not fail to impress 
every candid and attentive mind. Take, for illustra- 
tion, the predictions uttered by Isaiah and Jeremiah 
with respect to the captivity of the Jews. These pro- 
phets declared, while yet the Jews were dwelling 
safely in their own homes in Palestine, that they should 
be subdued as a nation and carried away for their sins 
captives to Babylon ; that their captivity should last 
just seventy years ; that at that time Babylon should be 
itself subdued by the Medes and Persians, who, when 
the prophets spoke, were two different nations, and 
both of them comparatively obscure ; that the Medes 
and Persians should act under the leadership of a man 
by the name of Cyrus ; and that Cyrus subduing Ba- 



INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 23 

by Ion should restore the Jews to their own land. Now 
I ask you how could these men, if they were not in- 
spired, have foretold these things? Their predictions 
were uttered years before Cyrus was born, and even 
before the Jews were conquered and forced away, and 
how knew they that all these things would come to 
pass ? And yet they did come to pass, as every stu- 
dent in history knows, precisely as they declared. Just 
at the expiration of seventy years Cyrus accomplished 
the decree of heaven. 

This, however, is only one case, and it is referred to 
merely as an illustration. Let any one examine this 
subject thoroughly, especially with reference to the 
prophecies concerning Christ, and if he is a reasonable 
man he will find the conviction forced upon him that 
the prophets were truly inspired. 

But another kind of evidence meeting us as we ad- 
vance in this investigation arises internally from the 
Scriptures themselves. It is denominated by writers 
on the subject the internal evidence of the truth of the 
Scriptures. To some minds it carries with it greater 
weight than any other class of evidence bearing on the 
question ; and to every mind conversant with it, it must 
convey a deep and irresistible impression. It is based 
upon the consideration that the sublimity of the doc- 
trines revealed in the Scriptures, the purity of their 
morals, the perfection of their precepts, the high and 
superhuman excellency of all thatthey teach, and re- 
commend, and enjoin upon mankind, clearly indicate 
their divine origin, and prove that the men who wrote 
these things "spoke as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost." I can only mention this evidence at this time 



24 INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

and commend it to your examination. Look at the 
subject in this light carefully. Answer the question, 
Where could these doctrines have come from, these 
lessons and precepts of morality, these far-reaching 
views of Glod, and of man, and of immortality, so just, 
so lofty, so full of light and consolation — and so calcu- 
lated to promote the purity and happiness of our race, 
where could they have come from but from God ? The 
sages of the heathen world never proposed any thing 
that can be considered worthy of even a comparison 
with them. Why this difference ? Why do we find 
in the Scriptures only teachings like these ? It is be- 
cause the human mind alone, darkened and debased by 
sin, can not rise to such pure and ennobling views, and 
can not erect so sublime a standard of truth and duty. 
These views inspired men only could reach, this stand- 
ard inspired men only propose. 

Many other things might be said indicating the 
abundance of evidence with which the claim of the 
sacred writers is supported, and on which the faith of 
believers rests as an immovable foundation. I have 
not, however, designed to do more than just to glance at 
some of the prominent points in this array of proof, 
and to direct your minds to a careful and more thorough 
investigation of the subject at your leisure. Sure I am 
that the believer will be more confirmed in his faith by 
such an investigation, and that the skeptic will find 
that in rejecting the Scriptures he is rejecting a true 
revelation from Grod, and is shutting out from his 
mind the real and divine light of truth. But there is 
another point to which I have been hastening in my 
remarks, on which I have been desirous to dwell in 



INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 25 

the consideration of onr theme, and which I have kept 
in sight from the commencement, but for which I have 
left myself almost no time ; and that is the advantages 
which this view of the Holy Scriptures give to their 
possession. To this interesting point I can not pretend 
now hardly to refer ; and yet I can not close without 
saying that in the fact that the Scriptures are inspired 
are clustered the highest and most important advan- 
tages to man as an intelligent, accountable, immortal 
being. If they are inspired they are of course reliable 
and authoritative in all that they record and teach. 
They may be depended on as infallible and certain 
in all their parts, their narrations, their doctrines, their 
ethics, their revelations on all subjects and things con- 
cerning alike the past and the future. If they are 
inspired, then, as I designed particularly to notice, we 
have positive information in regard to the creation of 
the world and the origin of the human family ; a cor- 
rect account of the cause and commencement of sin 
and its attendant evils ; a certain standard by which to 
test and understand all points and questions of morals ; 
an answer to that most momentous and absorbing in- 
quiry, Is there any thing for man beyond death ? — 
and above all, a plain history and statement of the way 
of salvation. On these topics we should know nothing, 
or nothing distinctly and certainly, but for the Bible ; 
and if this is rejected as an inspired book we are 
thrown back upon a level with the nations who live in 
total ignorance, or in wasted traditions and fabulous 
conjectures, in relation to them. If the Bible is, after 
all, a mere fable, all is dark and dreary as it respects 
the past, the present, and the future. There is no light, 
2 



26 INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

no hope, no sure anchorage on the dismal sea of human 
existence if not through the inspiration of this book. 
But if this is indeed inspired — if the great and glorious 
Creator here speaks to the world — if these good men 
men spake as they were moved by the Spirit of Truth, 
then all is clear and bright, then has man some certain 
knowledge what he is, from whence he came, and 
whither he is going, then may he know what he must 
do to be saved. All these advantages, in their wide 
and immense relations, come arraying themselves be- 
fore us when we regard the Scriptures in their divine 
and sacred character. 

But I can not dwell upon this consideration, nor 
upon other interesting points which might be brought 
on after it, at this. time. Our subject is too fruitful of 
thought for one discourse, and with only an imperfect 
development I must dismiss it. Let, however, what has 
been said lead you to prize more highly, to love more 
ardently, and to study more diligently the Scriptures 
that Providence has placed in your possession. Oh ! 
how much you owe to this book ! How much indeed 
does the world, especially this and other Christian 
lands, owe to it ! Think what this and other enlight- 
ened lands would be but for the Bible ; and to do this 
you have only to think what those lands are that are 
destitute of the Bible. How dark and degraded, how 
cheerless and hopeless, are all such portions of the 
earth to-day ! No Sabbath dawns with its holy quiet 
and sanctifying rest on them. No bright and blessed 
hope of another and immortal state dispels their anx- 
ious surmises of the future, and assures them of an 
existence on the other side of death. No cheering pro- 



INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCKIPTUKES. 27 

clamation of the "glad tidings of great joy," the advent 
of the Saviour and the redemption of the cross, has 
ever broken the moral gloom of their minds, and 
opened to. them the " living way" to Grod and to heaven. 
There they live in doubt and die in despair. But with 
us it is not so. Ours is a land where the light of rev- 
elation shines. "We have the holy oracles of truth, 
and therefore we differ from others. But are we im- 
proving tins incalculable blessing as we should ? Are 
the Scriptures our guide and counsellor, and are they 
making us wise unto salvation? Do we search or 
neglect them, do we follow or disregard them ? There 
are those who would undermine our confidence in this 
book, setting us adrifb like themselves upon the un- 
certain sea of human speculation, and leading us on 
in the idle pursuit of the foolish and dangerous sys- 
tems of an infidel and falsely styled philosophy. Are 
we resisting these temptations of the wicked and de- 
ceived, and amid the multiform and changing errors 
of the day are we clinging to the Bible as the only 
true and authoritative word of Grod ? Be assured this 
book can never be superseded : it is the Creator's full 
and last express revelation, and it will remain to the 
end of time, man's only sure source of moral light, 
outliving all the vain theories and idle conceits of 
perverted reason. It is the book from which our 
fathers learned the way to heaven. It supported them 
in life, comforted them in death, and has conducted 
them safely to God. "We will follow them in their 
footsteps ; we will go by the same sure light ; we will 
pursue the same old paths ; we will not turn to the 
right nor to the left to find any new or better way. It 



28 INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

is enough for us to know that they trusted in Grod, as 
manifested in this book, and were never confounded. 
The same blessed instructions and promises, if we 
adhere to them, will carry us also safely through, and 
bring us after the toils of our pilgrimage to immortality 
and eternal life. Never, then, will we renounce the 
Bible ; but we will faithfully read and live by it. No 
man shall take it from us ; but we will earnestly contend 
for it as the faith once delivered to the saints. We 
will stand by this book : we will bow in reverence to 
this book : we will cling to it in life, we will rest on it 
in death, 



SERMON II. 

ON PBEACHING. 

11 1 charg-e thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who 
shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom ; 
preach the word ; be instant in season, out of season ; reprove, rebuke, 
exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine." 2 Tni. 4 : 1, 2. 

When the apostle addressed to Timothy these 
Epistles he was occupying, though comparatively a 
young man, an interesting and a responsible field of 
labor. The fact that the apostle appointed him to 
this field is evidence that he judged him qualified for 
it ; and the fact that he continued him here, is evidence 
that he was not disappointed in him. It was not, 
therefore, on account of any incompetency or unfaith- 
fulness in Timothy that the Epistles were written, but 
it was simply to aid him in his work ; to strengthen 
his hands, and to incite him to continued fidelity to it. 
The text, which was obviously penned with this de- 
sign, appears toward the close of the Second Epistle, 
and takes the form, you perceive, of a solemn and im- 
pressive charge. "I charge thee therefore before 
Grod, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the 
quick and the dead at his appearing and his king- 
dom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of 
season ; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering 
and doctrine." Here, before the Searcher of hearts, and 



30 ON PREACHING. 

the Head of the Church, in view too of the great day 
of final reckoning, Timothy is counselled and admon- 
ished to be faithful in preaching the word. The drift 
and natural import of the words, especially when con- 
sidered with the circumstances under which they were 
uttered, clearly suggest this doctrine : that it is the 
chief business of ministers faithfully to preach the 
word. And if this doctrine is a legitimate inference 
from the text, it is also an important one ; one that is 
deserving the attention not only of ministers, but of all 
church members; one, therefore, that I may appro- 
priately bring before you on this occasion. 

In considering this doctrine I propose to inquire 
first, What is the word that the ministers of Christ 
preach ? Secondly, How must they preach this word 
in order to preach it faithfully? And thirdly, How 
does it appear that thus to preach it is their chief busi- 
ness? 

I. First, then, what is the word that the ministers of 
Christ preach ? And in regard to this inquiry it is 
hardly necessary to remark that the Gospel is the sub- 
ject referred to. The apostle is charging Timothy, as 
a minister of Christ, to be faithful in preaching ; and 
we all know that that which Christ has sent men out 
to preach is his Gospel. His commission to them is : 
" Go ye into all the world, and preach the Grospel to 
every creature." He has sent them forth for no other 
purpose ; at least, for no other not connected with this. 
Their business is to preach; and the subject of their 
preaching, the grand, the only subject, so far as their 
commission from him extends, is his holy and ever- 
blessed Gospel. 



ON PREACHING. 31 

Nor is this the only instance in which the Gospel is 
styled the " Word" in the Scriptures ; on the contrary, 
it is a common, and I know not but its most common 
designation. Christ himself, you will recollect, not 
only occasionally, but frequently, referred to it in this 
language. "The seed," said he, for instance, when 
comparing the preaching of the Gospel to the sowing 
of seed by the husbandman, "the seed is the word." 
Again, in speaking of the peculiar benefits of properly 
receiving, and practically adhering to the Grospel, he 
said : " Blessed are they who hear the word of God and 
keep it." And so too his apostles. " The word of the 
Lord," says Paul, obviously in reference to the Gospel, 
" is not bound." Again : " Unto us was the Gospel 
preached as well as unto them ; but the word preached 
did not profit them, not being mixed with faith." And 
Peter, to cite no other instances, makes use in one of 
his epistles of these words, so beautiful in themselves, 
as well as so pertinent to our purpose: "For all flesh 
is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. 
The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth 
away; but the word of the Lord endureth forever. 
And this is the word of the Lord which by the Gospel 
is preached unto you." The Gospel then, the great 
and glorious scheme of salvation, called the Gospel of 
peace, and the Gospel of the grace of God, this is the 
word referred to in the text ; the word that ministers 
are to preach, and which Timothy is charged to preach 
faithfully. 

If now it is asked why the Gospel is thus called the 
word ; why it is so designated both by Christ and his 
apostles with such uniformity, it may be replied, that 



32 ON PEEACHING. 

it is not accidentally, and without meaning, that this is 
done ; but for a particular reason. There is a natural 
and an obvious propriety in it. The Gospel is empha- 
tically a message ; a message from God to man, a mes- 
sage of peace and mercy. It is a scheme not only 
providing and constituting salvation, but unfolding 
and proclaiming this salvation to us; proclaiming it 
freely, openly, distinctly. According to the literal 
signification of the term itself, it is "good news," or 
"glad tidings;" a divine announcement of peace on 
earth and good will toward men. It is a scheme then 
in which God manifests, and not only so, but declares, 
the fullness and the purposes of his grace. And here 
is the reason for styling it the word. It is so in real- 
ity ; the appellation is appropriate and beautiful ; it is 
the word, the word or proclamation of life, the word 
of grace, the word of salvation. 

II. Let us attend, then, in the second place, to the 
inquiry, How are ministers to preach the word in order 
to preach it faithfully ? The purport of the charge is 
evidently to this effect; it is not merely to preach, bat 
to preach faithfully. " Preach the word ;" and in doing 
this, "Be instant in season, out of season ; reprove, 
rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine." 
The question now, How may this be done ; how may 
the messengers of salvation so speak and unfold their 
message, as faithfully to accomplish their mission ? will 
be considered. 

And first, it may be reasonably remarked, that in 
order to preach the word faithfully the ministers of 
Christ must preach nothing but the word. By this is 



ON PREACHING. 33 

meant that they must not make any topics the subject 
of their discourses, when preaching the Gospel, but 
such as the Gospel directly sets forth or implies. This 
it must be acknowledged has not always been regard- 
ed ; and hence there have been instances in which the 
pulpit has been used for other purposes than those to 
which it properly belongs. How often, for example, 
has the voice of worldly wisdom been heard there ! 
How often have topics, pertaining more to the arts 
and sciences than to Christ, and calculated to make men 
wise in the things of earth rather than wise unto salva- 
tion, been introduced into this sacred place ! and how 
often have the people gone home, admiring, it may be, 
the learning and intellect of the preacher, yet feeling 
in their souls an unsatisfied want for spiritual food, 
and painfully conscious that he has been withholding 
from them the bread of life ! Such ministers, it is 
true, do not always intend to preach themselves, for 
sometimes their course is the result of inattention 
rather than design; but it is nevertheless apparent 
that they do preach themselves, or at least not Christ 
Jesus the Lord. They discourse intelligently and elo- 
quently ; their audiences are intellectually entertained 
and delighted; and there is accorded to them the 
praise of great ability and cultivation; but no souls 
are awakened and saved, no penitents directed to the 
Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world, 
no believers strengthened or comforted on their way. 
No indeed — such men do not preach Christ, and at 
the last they will not be found among his faithful 
servants. 

But how often has the voice of strife also been in 
2* 



34 ON PREACHING. 

this place ! I do not mean here the strife which every 
faithful minister may at times be called to engage in, 
the strife of a firm and manly defense of the trnth and 
public morals ; but I mean the strife of worldly ambi- 
tion ; that which results from a love of controversy or a 
love of reputation ; that therefore which might with per- 
fect fidelity be avoided, and which leads to the preach- 
ing of many things that do not belong to the Gospel. 
How different is the course of those who thus fulfill 
their ministry from that of the adorable Saviour ! It 
was said of him by the prophet that he should not 
strive, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street; 
and strikingly was the prediction accomplished in 
him. Never in all his life did he indulge in a con- 
tentious or controversial spirit. He was meek and 
lowly and retiring. He labored, it is true, to instruct 
men, and, when assailed in his character and doctrine, 
to convince them of their error and sin ; but he never 
spoke in the tone of the controversialist, never dis- 
coursed in the way of wrangling debate. There was 
firmness, and there was a divine majesty with him, 
for he spake as one having authority, and not as the 
scribes ; but yet there was mildness, and simplicity of 
purpose, a kind heart, and a desire to conciliate and 
save. And thus by avoiding all strife he never 
preached any thing but his own Grospel ; every thing 
he said, and every thing he did, was designed and 
calculated to unfold it. Would that his embassadors 
would all imitate him in this particular; that they 
would lay aside all malice, and wrath, and evil-speak- 
ing ; and that, while contending earnestly for the faith 
delivered to the saints, they would do it with gentle- 



ON PKEACHING. 35 

ness and a desire to reclaim sinners. Would, too, that 
they would imitate his great apostle ; that they would 
preach the word, and nothing but the word ; that they 
would feel as he felt, and do as he did, when he said : 
" For I determined not to know any thing among you, 
save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." 

But we may remark, secondly, that to preach the 
word faithfully the ministers of Christ must preach 
the whole word; not merely nothing else, but this 
fully. I need not say that it is possible for them to 
err in this as well as in the respect just referred to. 
ISTor need I say that to err in this respect is as obvious- 
ly to fail in making full proof of their ministry as to 
err in the preceding respect. All that they preach 
may be true, and as far as it goes it may be the truth 
as it is in Jesus ; but then it is not the whole truth ; 
it is the truth restricted, disconnected, deficient ; it is 
only a few particulars of it, a few aspects or phases ; 
not the entire system, so thoroughly and completely 
presented as to develop in full form and beauty the 
grand and glorious work of human salvation. And 
thus they come short in fidelity to their mission. They 
keep back a part of their message ; they even proclaim 
what they do give in a manner so imperfect and de- 
tached, that it loses half its weight and importance, 
and accomplishes but half its design. 

It was not thus, allow me to remind you, that the 
apostle preached. He withheld no part of the truth. 
According to his own testimony — the best, seeing he 
spoke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that 
could be furnished — he declared the whole Gospel 
wherever he went and to all to whom he could gain 



36 ON PBEACHINGk 

access. Hear him in that most affecting address which 
he made to the elders at Ephesus, when he was about 
to leave them for another field of labor. " I have not 
shunned," said he to them — and if he had they might 
have witnessed against him on the spot — " I have not 
shunned to declare to you all the counsel of God." 
Again: "I kept back nothing that was profitable to 
you, but have showed you, and have taught you pub- 
licly, and from house 'to house, testifying both to Jews 
and Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward 
our Lord Jesus Christ." No ; this great man never 
restrained the Gospel ; he preached it all. It was not 
with him a point of inquiry, What part of the truth 
will best suit the taste of the people ? What can I 
say that will be most likely to please and gratify 
them? but what part do they most need, and how in 
enforcing this can the whole be brought to bear upon 
them? And this is the way Christ would have all 
his embassadors preach. He would have them declare 
every doctrine, and precept, and promise, and threat- 
ening of the Gospel. 

But there are several other things necessary to be 
observed if those intrusted with the word would 
preach it faithfully. They must also preach it plainly. 
That is, they must preach it in a clear, simple, intelli- 
gible style ; a style so transparent, that the truth may 
be seen at once without obscurity or indistinctness. 
There is no need, however, in doing this that the 
preacher should neglect his style; no need that it 
should be loose, or weak, or slovenly; on the other 
hand, it is right and proper for him to seek, as did 
Solomon, to find out acceptable words, and to remem- 



ON PREACHING. 37 

ber that such, words are as goads, and as nails fastened 
by the Master of assemblies. But then he should be 
careful never to darken counsel by the multitude of 
words. He should never sacrifice perspicuity to orna- 
ment ; he should remember indeed that perspicuity is 
ornament, and that every thing wanting in this is near- 
ly needless, and in every way objectionable. 

The Apostle, to refer again to him, preached the 
Gospel in this manner. He always spoke with clear- 
ness and simplicity. "And, I brethren," says he in 
writing to the Corinthians, " when I came to you, 
came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom ; 
declaring to you the testimony of God. For I deter- 
mined not to know any thing among you save Jesus 
Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in 
weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And 
my speech and my preaching was not in enticing 
words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the 
Spirit and of power ; that your faith should not stand 
in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." He 
says again, in discussing a certain practice that prevail- 
ed for awhile in the early Church: "I had rather speak 
five words with my understanding, that by my voice I 
might teach others also, than ten thousand words in 
an unknown tongue." "With plainness, then, as well 
as with great care and anxiety, did this holy man 
preach the Gospel committed to him; and from his 
example ministers may all learn how to preach so that 
the word may not be in vain, but may accomplish the 
thing whereunto God hath sent it. 

But the ministers of Christ must also preach earnest- 
ly. A cold, lifeless, indifferent manner, though it may 



88 ON PREACHING. 

be clear and logical, will not answer. There must be 
zeal, energy, and feeling. They are to speak with the 
heart so much in the effort that it' shall be apparent 
that they believe and realize what they say, and that 
thus the Gospel may come to the people in the demon- 
stration of the Spirit and of power. It is to be lamented 
that there is so little true earnestness in the preaching 
of the word. • Many address their fellow-men on this 
most important of all subjects, their personal salvation, 
as if it were a theme of earth, and involved conse- 
quences relating only to the present. Nay, they some- 
times exhibit far less concern and emotion than are 
often exhibited when men address each other merely 
upon the affairs of this life. This is a great inconsist- 
ency. If the Gospel is true, then, in the language of a 
certain divine, " it is tremendously true." Our highest 
interests are included in it ; our spiritual and immortal 
interests, our time, our eternity. Hence it should be 
preached with a corresponding earnestness; I do not 
say with loud tones of voice and fierce gesticulations 
— these are not essential to an earnest manner — but 
with a feeling heart, with a proper impression of its 
truth and importance, with the energy of thought, and 
the power of sincere motives and fervid utterances. 
Thus did Christ preach, though always calm and self- 
possessed ; and thus the apostle, though so inclined to 
reason and to argue out his positions. 

Again, the ministers of Christ must preach solemnly. 
You have only to consider what the Gospel is, and 
what it contemplates in reference to mankind, to see 
the appropriateness of this remark. Truly, if there is 
any thing solemn in the universe, it is to be found in 



ON PREACHING. 39 

the Gospel of Christ ; if there is any thing deserving 
sober, serious, considerate attention, it is here. Many, 
I know, do not realize this, nor regard it, but can 
trifle with the Gospel, and treat it with indifference, 
and even contempt ; but the time is coming when they 
will discover their mistake, and when they will find, 
though they think themselves wise, that they are in- 
fluenced and swayed by the weakest and wildest folly. 
But then, if the Gospel is so solemn a subject, it should 
evidently be preached in a solemn manner. TsTo levity 
or pertness is becoming here. A calm and thoughtful 
seriousness should take possession of the preacher's 
mind, and show itself in all his words and actions. 
Always should it characterize him in the pulpit ; and 
that it may have its full effect there, it should character- 
ize him out of it. Let him feel serious, and be serious, 
and then, when he addresses the people, it will be in 
a serious style. The adorable Saviour, I imagine, was 
a solemn preacher. And so, too, was Paul, who ever 
spake with fear and trembling. And so, too, must 
every embassador be who would faithfully preach the 
word. 

But, finally, I remark, under this head, that the 
ministers of Christ must preach affectionately. A kind 
and gentle spirit, springing from true love to Christ 
and to souls, must appear in every discourse, and per- 
vade every word. There is to be no bitterness, no 
vindictiveness. There is not merely to be the absence 
of these feelings ; there is to be the positive presence 
of the feelings of tenderness and affection. He who 
preaches without these feelings can not be faithful to 
his trust. Besides this, if he has not a kind heart, if 



40 ON PREACHING. 

he has no sympathy with Christ in his great love to- 
ward our guilty race, he has no call and no right to 
preach. Look at Christ, and see how he preached. 
What tenderness marked all his utterances, not only 
when he was unfolding the way of salvation, but when 
he was exposing and rebuking sin ! Always solemn 
and in earnest, yet he was always compassionate. 
Look, too, at the apostle, and see how greatly he re- 
sembled the Master in this particular. A tender 
though strong heart had Paul. Yes, and the more 
strikingly tender because strong. In his farewell dis- 
course at Ephesus, to which we have referred, he re- 
minded his brethren, that for the space of three years 
he had faithfully warned them night and day with tears. 
On another occasion he remarked, even with respect 
to the wicked: " Many walk of whom I have told you, 
and now tell you even vjeeping, that they are the ene- 
mies of the cross of Christ." Look, also, at John, and, 
with all his warmth and ardor, at Peter ; they, with all 
the apostles, both held and proclaimed the truth in 
love. The love of Christ, indeed, constrained them, 
so that, with affection and overcoming pathos, they 
warned men, and besought them to be reconciled to 
God. And in this manner should every one preach 
whom Christ has called and put into the ministry. 

III. This, then, is the word, and this the manner in 
which it should be preached. One other inquiry now 
remains, which is, How does it appear that thus to 
preach the word is the chief business of Christ's minis- 
ters ? It is not pretended, you will observe, that this 
is their only business, for such all know is not the case. 



ON PEEACHING. 41 

There are other duties besides this, directly devolving 
upon them, and duties which they can not neglect and 
be innocent. They are to administer the sacraments, 
to appoint and attend meetings for prayer, to visit from 
house to house, especially the poor and the sick, and 
to watch in love and diligence over the flock over 
which the Holy Grhost has made them overseers. But 
though these duties are legitimate and indispensable, 
they are all secondary to the great duty of preaching 
the Gospel ; and though they are to be attended to 
with a ready and lively interest, it is only as accompa- 
niments and aids to preaching. 

That this view of the subject is correct, may be ar- 
gued, in the first place, from the fact that preaching- 
was the chief part of the ministry of Christ. This 
ministry, I need not remark, was continued for a pe- 
riod exceeding three years ; and was intended to pre- 
pare the way for the great atoning work for which he 
came into the world. During this time he visited and 
healed the sick, and, to establish the divinity of his 
character, as well as to show kindness to the afflicted, 
performed many great and wonderful miracles. He 
also instituted the sacraments, ordained men to the 
work of the ministry, and made every requisite pro- 
vision for the full establishment and successful pro- 
gress of his Church. But then, his principal employ- 
ment during these years was, after all, to preach the 
Grospel. He began his ministry by preaching, and thus 
he continued and finished it. In Jerusalem, the great 
metropolis of the country, in the smaller cities and all 
the villages around, his voice was heard, instructing the 
people, and calling on them to repent. He was never 



42 ON PREACHING. 

idle, but was constantly engaged in this work. In 
public and private, dayly, and almost hourly, he was 
teaching and warning the people, unfolding to them 
the Scriptures, and sowing in their hearts the seeds of 
truth. 

And this, you will recollect, is in agreement, too, 
with prophecy. In Isaiah, where the predictions re- 
lating to him are fuller and more circumstantial than 
in any of the other prophets, he is represented as hav- 
ing already appeared, and as proclaiming his mission 
in these words : " The Spirit of the Lord God is upon 
me; because he hath anointed me to preach good 
tidings to the meek : he hath sent me to bind up the 
broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and 
the opening of the prison to them that are bound ; to 
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day 
of the vengeance of our God; to comfort all that 
mourn." This was generations before he was incar- 
nated, and is a significant description of his ministerial 
work. Nothing could be truer to life. And now, if 
Christ himself made it the principal business of his 
ministry to preach ; if all his miracles, and journeys, 
and the provisionary regulations of his Church, were 
really subordinate to this, and only intended to aid 
and give success in this, we may justly reason thai 
this is the chief work which he designs his embassa- 
dors to do, and that if they fail in this, they fail in the 
great function of their calling. 

The same thing, however, may be argued from the 
commission under which Christ has sent out his minis- 
ters. This commission, as expressed in his own words, 
is : " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to 






ON PREACHING. 43 

every creature : He that believeth and is baptized shall 
be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." 
Here, though it is clear. by implication that to baptize 
is a duty pertaining to the ministerial office, yet preach- 
ing is mentioned and placed before it-;' and that, too, 
in such a form, that every one can see that it is de- 
signed to be the prominent work of ministers, and that 
every thing else is secondary and subservient to it. 

Furthermore, there are direct references to this sub- 
ject in the New Testament, particularly from the pen 
of the apostle Paul, which go to establish this conclu- 
sion. The apostle plainly declares, with respect to 
himself, that this is the great work that Christ had 
assigned to him. He was raised up, he says, and put 
into the ministry for this chiefly and expressly. The 
language, he says, which Christ addressed to him at 
his conversion, was: "Arise and stand upon thy feet: 
for I have appeared to thee for this purpose, to make 
thee a minister, and a witness of those things which 
thou hast seen, and in which I shall appear to thee." 
He says, also, in one of the Epistles to the Corinthians, 
that Christ sent him not to baptize, but to preach the 
Gospel; and he adds: "I thank God that I baptized 
none of you, but Crispus and Gaius." Here he clearly 
places preaching above the administration of the sacra- 
ments; not that the sacraments are of trivial importance, 
or that their administration is only an indifferent part 
of the ministerial office, but that, important and bind- 
ing as they are, preaching is yet more important, and 
is chiefly to engage the attention. He also places 
preaching above the administration of discipline. " Let 
the elders," says he to Timothy, "that rule well be ac- 



44 ON PKEACHING- 

counted worthy of double honor, especially they who 
labor in word and doctrine." To rule well, or cor- 
rectly administer the discipline of the Church, to be 
diligent and skillful in exercising the oversight of the 
pastoral office, is here referred to as necessary and valu- 
able in a Christian minister; but then, you see, it is 
more necessary and valuable to be faithful in preach- 
ing the word. " Especially they who labor in word and 
doctrine." 

But there is another argument still, that we must 
not overlook in forming our judgment upon this sub- 
ject; it is, that the preaching of the Gospel is God's 
chosen instrumentality for effecting the salvation of 
men. And this argument is sufficient in itself, had we 
nothing else to resort to, to decide the whole question. 
For if. it is the design of the ministry to bring men to 
salvation, and if preaching is that part of the ministry 
on which this great end is most dependent, then it fol- 
lows that preaching is the principal, the grand, the 
leading business of the sacred office. 

But is this so? Let us examine this view of the 
subject for a few moments, and see. 

It will be conceded at once, that the word which 
ministers preach is the great instrumental means of the 
salvation of men. This the divine oracles teach us with 
the utmost clearness. The apostle Paul teaches it, 
when he says, as a reason why he is not ashamed of 
the Gospel, that " it is the power of God to salvation to 
every one that believeth." The apostle James, too, 
teaches it, when he says: " Of his own will begat he us 
by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first 
fruits of his creatures." And it is for this reason pre- 



ON PREACHING. 45 

cisely that it is called "the word of life," and "the 
word of salvation." 

But it is equally clear that the efficacy of the word, 
as it regards mankind generally, depends upon preach- 
ing. If it is not preached, it is like a hidden treasure, 
rich, and ample to redeem from destitution and misery, 
but unapplied and unavailable. The object of preach- 
ing is to bring forth and exhibit this treasure ; to pre- 
sent the Gospel to the understandings of men, so that, 
being seen and known, it may be sought and appro- 
priated. Until this is done, men do not come into 
contact with it. It does not arrest their attention, does 
not engage their thoughts, does not impress their con- 
sciences. Comparatively few are awakened, except it 
be directly or indirectly by preaching. To be the 
power of God to our salvation, the Gospel must be 
believed ; and to be believed, it must be offered and 
unfolded to lis. 

The apostle plainly took this view of the subject, 
and in his Epistle to the Eomans, he has referred to it, 
and settled it, in his own clear manner of reasoning. 
" For whosoever," he says, " shall call upon the name 
of the Lord shall be saved. How, then, shall they 
call on him in whom they have not believed ? And 
how shall they believe in him of whom they have not 
heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 
And how shall he preach unless he be sent? — So, 
then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the 
word of God." The meaning and force of this are so 
apparent, that they may be seen at a glance. To be 
saved, men must pray ; to pray, they must believe ; to 
believe, they must hear, that is, understand ; and to 



46 ON PREACHING. 

understand, the word must be preached to them. Their 
salvation, then, as to its instrumental means, depends 
upon the word ; and the word, in its efficacy and 
power to them, depends upon preaching. This is the 
method with respect to men generally. Preaching is 
the instrumentality God has appointed by which to 
make known, and to apply, the mighty and saving 
power of the Gospel. The conclusion, therefore, is 
clear, that to preach the word is the great work of 
the Christian ministry; that to perform this work 
faithfully is to act in keeping with the great com- 
mission ; and that those who do thus preach to the 
best of their ability, discharging at the same time the 
less but important duties of their office, shall receive 
at the last the approving acknowledgment: "Well 
done, good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful 
over a few things ; I will make thee ruler over many 
things : enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 

And now, brethren and friends, having brought out 
this doctrine, in this plain style of illustration, as far as 
my time will allow, permit me to say, that it is not with- 
out a sense of its importance that I appear before you on 
this occasion. In the providence of God, I have been 
transferred from the pastoral charge of another to this 
Church, and this morning I take upon me the care of 
your souls. Impressed, as I am, with the responsi- 
bility of my whole work, I am particularly impressed 
with the responsibility of this part of it. It is surely a 
serious thing to preach the Gospel of Christ. Well 
might even an apostle exclaim : " Who is sufficient for 
these things?" There is no employment so solemn, so 
deserving careful attention and diligent application, as 



G 

? 



ON PKEACHING. 47 

this. There is none connected with such momentous 
results, or so intimately regarding the dearest and 
greatest interests of the souls of men. To all who hear 
it, it shall be either the savor of life unto life, or of 
death unto death. Well, then, may every minister of 
Christ tremble as he enters upon this work ! "Well 
may his heart almost fail within him, as he contem- 
plates the immenseness of his responsibility! And 
when he looks forward to the future, to the period re- 
ferred to in the text, when the Lord J esus Christ shall 
judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his 
kingdom, and remembers the account he must then 
give of his stewardship, well may he fear, and say — 
as feared and said the prophet before him: "Ah! 
Lord God ! behold, I can not speak, for I am a child." 
But my heart is too full, and I find myself too deeply 
affected by the strength of my feelings, to say all that 
I would wish, or that might be proper. I can only 
assure you of the fidelity of my intentions, and of my 
need of your prayers. I shall aim to discharge as in 
the sight of God, all the duties of my relation, not for- 
getting that I am chiefly to preach the word. I shall 
endeavor to make full proof of my ministry. But 
when I have done the best I can, there will appear in 
the history of our connection many defects and defi- 
ciencies to be regretted. For these I bespeak your for- 
bearance, assuring you that I shall try to be faithful. 
God helping me, I shall labor with a heart touched, I 
trust, with at least a spark from the heavenly altar, to 
reach the word, to be instant in season, out of season, 
to reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and 
doctrine. And I pray that no root of bitterness may 



48 ON PREACHING. 

spring up to trouble us ; that no unfaithfulness on my 
part or yours may become so apparent as to interfere 
with the peace of our union, or the success of the Gos- 
pel among us ; that we shall mutually understand, and 
love, and have confidence in one another; and that the 
blessing of Grod, without which we can neither enjoy 
nor expect any good, may rest richly upon us, and 
never remove from us. 



SERMON III. 

PAUL IN THE PEESENCE OF FELIX. 

" And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to 
come, Felix trembled, and answered, G-o thy way for this time ; when 
I have a convenient season I will call for thee." Acts 24 : 25. 

The apostle Paul, who is the faithful embassador of 
Christ here referred to, was at the time a prisoner in 
bonds. Having returned to Jerusalem after a long 
and laborious tour in preaching the Gospel, he was 
suddenly arrested by the Jews, through malice and 
persecution, and being charged with some offense 
against their government and institutions, was patiently 
awaiting his trial. While in this situation Felix, the 
Governor, before whom he was to be tried, sent for 
him, and with his wife Drusilla, requested to hear from 
him "concerning the faith in Christ." The request 
the apostle most cheerfully received and complied with : 
but instead of acting the part of a time-server ; instead 
of nattering his noble hearers, or attempting to gratify 
their taste with a soft and insinuating address ; instead 
of uttering one word with a view to interest them in 
his favor, or to conciliate their good opinion; instead of 
exhibiting in any form a man-pleasing or a man-fear- 
ing spirit, he proves himself true to his mission, and 
embraces the opportunity, as the only one he might 
perhaps ever have, faithfully to preach Christ, and to 
3 



50 PAUL IN THE PKESENCE OF FELIX. 

warn them to flee from the wrath to come. It is to 
this occasion that the words of the text refer : " And 
as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judg- 
ment to come, Felix trembled, and said, (xo thy way' 
for this time ; when I have a convenient season I will 
call for thee." 

In whatever light we view it, the scene here opened 
to our contemplation is certainly an interesting one. 
Whether we consider the character and circumstances 
of the speaker, the position and authority of his audi- 
tors, the power and effect of his discourse, or the man- 
ner of his dismissal, we are led to the conclusion that 
it must have been a marked and memorable occasion. 
But in speaking of this scene, as I propose to do this 
evening, I shall overlook by design the incidental cir- 
cumstances, such as the pomp and show which we may 
imagine to have been displayed, and the dependence 
and peculiarity of the apostle's condition, and confine 
myself to the main circumstance, his preaching. In 
pursuing this purpose I shall notice the character of 
his preaching, the effect it had on the mind of Felix, 
and the conduct of Felix with regard to it ; and I pray 
that something that may be said may answer the end, 
under the blessing of Grod, of convicting and awaken- 
ing those who hear me at this time as impenitent sin- 
ners. Many there are probably here who are as un- 
concerned and thoughtless as to their guilt and need 
of repentance, as was Felix when he sent for the apos- 
tle. Sincerely do I hope that the truth may have the 
effect to-day that it had on that occasion, and that every 
careless and indifferent soul in this assembly may be 
aroused from his sleep of sin, and be induced to repent 



PAUL IN THE PKESENCE OF FELIX. 51 



and turn to the Lord. Now, let all such consider, is 
the accepted time, and this the day of salvation. 



I. In the first place, then, let us consider the charac- 
ter of the apostle's preaching. And under this head I 
remark, first, that it must have been eminently instruct- 
ive. This we are led to infer from what is said of the 
manner of his preaching, and of the topics on which 
he preached. As to his manner it is said that he 
"reasoned." This can not be understood only as 
intimating that he discoursed with perspicuity, and 
with force of argument. He did not merely talk, that 
is, discourse without thought or connection of thought, 
but he reasoned; he intelligently, clearly, and cogently 
presented and developed the truth and claims of Grod. 
As to the topics on which he preached, it is said that he 
reasoned of "righteousness, temperance, and judgment 
to come." These were the points incorporated in his 
discourse, and important, and in this case appropriate 
points did they prove themselves to be. The first of 
these topics refers to the duty of justice ; the duty of 
being correct and equitable in all our dealings one with 
another. It is probable that the apostle referred to this 
virtue as an attribute of the character of God; and that 
in illustration of it he descanted on the strictness and 
integrity with which He conducts his administration as 
the Euler of the universe ; and it is probable that he 
argued from this the necessity of justice in our private 
and official conduct toward each other. The next 
topic relates more particularly to duties which we owe 
personally to ourselves — to temperance, or the proper 
government of the mind, in all its passions, appetites, 



52 PAUL IN THE PRESENCE OF FELIX. 

and propensities. The original word signifies general 
or entire moderation ; not moderation merely in eating 
and drinking, but in every thing, in every inclination 
and movement of the soul. It forbids all unholy and 
inordinate desires ; enjoins chastity, prudence, and 
self-denial ; and puts an unyielding and unconniving 
restraint upon the whole man. And then the remain- 
ing topic, a judgment to come, was brought forward 
no doubt to illustrate the importance of these virtues, 
and of a holy life generally, and to incite his hearers 
to commence such a life at once. It is quite likely 
that the apostle showed the necessity and certainty of 
such a day ; that he described the grandeur and great- 
ness of its proceedings ; and referred to the utter con- 
fusion which shall then appear in every one that doeth 
evil. 

And now connecting these several topics, in their 
extent and bearing, with the manner in which the 
apostle discoursed upon them, and it is reasonable to 
infer that his preaching must indeed have been in- 
structing. 

But I remark secondly, in connection with this, that 
his preaching was faithfully plain and pointed. It has 
been observed already that the apostle said nothing 
in this discourse intended to conciliate the good opinion 
and favorable regard of Felix. He bestowed no flat- 
tering titles either upon him or his admired consort ; 
he uttered not so much as one word in praise of their 
dignity, or calculated to gratify their vanity. He 
preached to them just as he preached to other sinners, 
directly, plainly, faithfully. This is not merely sup- 
posed, but it is legitimately inferred from the peculiar 



PAUL IN THE PRESENCE OF FELIX. 53 

adaptation of the topics on which he treated to the case 
and circumstances of Felix and Brasilia. Felix was a 
governor and a judge ; and as such it was his business 
to execute law and administer justice. It is known, 
however, that in his official character he was exceed- 
ingly corrupt ; so much so, that he would not only 
receive bribes, but invited and sought after them ; and 
to gratify personal wishes would oppress the innocent 
and clear the guilty. How suitable a theme then for 
his consideration was the righteousness on which the 
apostle reasoned — the duty of official and private just- 
ice ! How must his conscience have been aroused, 
and with what force and power must he have been 
reminded of his sins ! 

Again Felix and Drusilla were both blamable in 
private conduct. To say nothing of other things, they 
had been living for some time in unholy marriage; 
she having left her own husband at his suggestion, and 
he having received and acknowledged her as his wife. 
It was in reference to this circumstance doubtless that 
the apostle reasoned of temperance ; the duty of chastity, 
of restraining all unlawful desires, of leading a pure 
and spotless life. And in this too how exactly did he 
adapt his discourse to the character of his hearers ! It 
is impossible for them not to have been convicted of 
their guilt ! As he enlarged on this topic they must 
have felt that they were sinners in the sight of Grod, 
and that, though able now to defy consequences, the 
future would reveal their iniquity, and administer strict 
and impartial justice. 

And how appropriately is all this applied to their 
consciences by an allusion to the day of judgment ! 



54 PAUL IN THE PRESENCE OF FELIX. 

Then they as well as their subjects, they as well as those 
whom they have wronged and oppressed, shall stand 
before the Judge of all the earth, and answer for their 
injustice and impurity. Then they shall deal with One 
who can not be bribed, and who can not be deceived ; 
then the penalty of the divine law, though contem- 
plated with indifference now, will overtake them for 
their sin ; and then for the brief gratification of pride 
and appetite they shall find themselves banished from 
Grod, and from the society of the pure and the good. 
See the devoted apostle as he stands there in the pre- 
sence of dignity and power ! See him as he fixes his 
eye on his noble but guilty hearers ! Mark the point 
and directness of his utterances as he reasons on the 
very moral duties against which they had transgressed, 
and the great day of accounts when they must appear 
before Grod and answer for it all ! — and if there is not 
fidelity here where can you go to find it ? They ex- 
pected no such preaching as this. They summoned 
the apostle before them merely for entertainment. 
They did ,not imagine that he would treat on such 
practical things, or aim any remarks at themselves, at 
least in condemnation : but he saw their condition and 
danger ; he desired if possible to save their souls ; and 
forgetting himself, and his own temporal interest, he 
spake of things that convicted them of sin, and that 
filled them with alarm. 

This leads me now to remark that his preaching was 
also solemn and alarming. That it was solemn is not 
only inferred from the character of the man, who was 
always serious and in earnest, but from every thing 
relating to his subject and position. Nor does the 



PAUL IN THE PRESENCE OF FELIX. 55 

phrase, "he reasoned," stand in the way of this con- 
clusion. It simply means that he discoursed in an 
intelligent and manly style ; not that he was metaphys- 
ical, or dry, or dull. His discourse was, doubtless, 
argumentative, for such was the structure of his mind ; 
but it must also, from its great impressiveness, have 
been lively in thought, dignified and devout in delivery. 
Certain it is, that he said nothing that we might call 
amusing or trifling, nothing calculated to excite mirth 
or pleasantry. And he was also alarming. JSTo other 
proof of this is- needed than the effect which his dis- 
course produced. No man ever possessed a greater 
versatility of mental powers, or was ever more able to 
adapt himself to the circumstances and demands of an 
occasion, than he. Hence when it was called for, he 
could speak in gentleness and sympathy, and offer the 
most consoling considerations to the sad and sorrowing. 
Never, except by the Eedeemer himself, has he been 
excelled in feelings and expressions of tenderness, and 
in fitness to comfort and encourage the dejected. But 
he had likewise the power to alarm. He knew well 
how to address himself to the fears of the wicked, and 
what, to say, and how to say it, so as to convince them 
of sin, and awaken their slumbering sensibilities. He 
could skillfully preach the terrors as well as the prom- 
ises of the Gospel. He could describe the consequences 
of rejecting Christ as vividly and forcibly as he could 
the consequences of accepting him. And this we 
observe he frequently did. He did it on this occasion 
to Felix and Brasilia. By the terrors of the Lord he 
endeavored to persuade them to repent and turn from 
their sins. With what energy is it likely that he 



56 PAUL IN THE PKESENCE OF FELIX. 

spoke ! With what an expressive countenance did he 
look upon his astonished hearers, and with what vivid- 
ness and grandeur portray the scenes of a judgment to 
come ! Surely their hearts must have been moved 
within them, and with feelings both of wonder and 
fear they must have realized that it was a serious and 
momentous hour ! 

II. But having said thus much as to the character 
of the apostle's preaching on this occasion, let us now 
consider, as proposed, the effect of his preaching on 
the mind of Felix. 

And here the first thing that we are led to notice is 
the marked difference, in regard to this particular, that 
appears between Felix and Drusilla. As it respects 
the latter we are not informed how the apostle's dis- 
course affected her ; yet the very silence of the evan- 
gelist seems to indicate that the effect was not the same 
with her as with Felix. Probably she was somewhat 
moved, and perhaps sufficiently so to discover and feel 
her sinfulness ; still it is not likely that she was very 
greatly alarmed, or that she manifested to the observer 
any particular emotion whatever. If now we inquire 
why this was so ? why was there this difference in the 
immediate effect of so powerful a discourse on these 
two minds ? an answer may be found, at least in part, 
in their previous education. As a Jewess, Drusilla 
had been instructed in things to which Felix was com- 
paratively a stranger. She had had access to the Old 
Testament Scriptures, and from these had understood 
from her childhood the necessity of a holy life, and the 
certainty of a judgment to come. Thus the topics on 



PAUL IN THE PRESENCE OF FELIX. 57 

which, the apostle preached were already to some ex- 
tent familiar to her. On the other hand Felix proba- 
bly had but an imperfect acquaintance with these truths 
and duties. Something with regard to them he had 
no doubt been in circumstances to learn, but yet he 
could not have had that intelligent and appropriate im- 
pression of them which every enlightened Jew possess- 
ed. Consequently, when the apostle spake as he did, 
he was taken as it were by surprise ; if he did not hear 
what he had never heard before, he was brought to 
comprehend it more perfectly, and was impressed with 
it more deeply. Had Drusilla been equally uninform- 
ed ; had her acquaintance with these topics been more 
recent or limited ; had she not been familiar with them 
from her girlhood, it is probable that she too would 
have felt their solemnity and importance, and would 
also have trembled. But as it was, though she may 
have received some new and more adequate views, she 
was in a measure prepared to resist the truth, and so 
to suppress emotion and harden her heart. It was with 
her indeed as it is with sinners now : when they are 
not reformed and benefited by their superior light they 
become more and more unconcerned as to their condi- 
tion, and are in fact harder than the less favored. 

And on this last remark let me make, as I pass, a 
short pause for reflection. Let me observe that this is 
not a solitary instance in which the preaching of the 
Gospel has affected one and not another. On the con- 
trary the same thing is frequently, and indeed con- 
stantly occurring. Some at a particular time are reach- 
ed by the truth and awakened, while others at the very 
same time, and under the same discourse, will sit un- 
3* 



58 PAUL IN THE PRESENCE OF FELIX. 

concerned, or, rallying all their strength to the effort, 
will successfully resist conviction. Even to-night it is 
fondly hoped that some poor sinner in this congrega- 
tion is yielding to the convincing influence of the Gos- 
pel, and will leave this place resolved to forsake his 
sins, and to save his soul ; but it is to be feared at the 
same time, nay, it is almost certain, that there are 
others here who will resist impression, who will drive 
back all serious feeling, and who will go away as care- 
less and unthoughtful as ever, and as undetermi n ed to 
take the first step to secure their salvation. Thus while 
Felix trembles, Drusilla is comparatively unmoved; 
while a husband is giving way under the power of the 
Grospel, a wife sits unsubdued ; while a brother is weep- 
ing, a sister is trifling ; while one is resolving now to 
repent, another is saying, there is time enough yet. 

But the question remains yet to be considered, what 
was the effect of this discourse on the mind of Felix ? 
The declaration of the text, Felix trembled, indicates 
unequivocally what this effect was. It informs us that 
the Grospel took hold of this wicked, this proud man's 
heart; that it moved, alarmed, and awakened him; 
and that under the strength of his conviction he was 
unable to conceal the agitation of his mind. It is pos- 
sible, though the original is only a strong term express- 
ing great mental excitement, that his body did literally 
tremble; but whether this was the case or not, his 
mind was put in commotion, his understanding and 
sensibilities powerfully affected. The declaration as- 
sures us of two things: that he was convicted of his 
sins, and that he was afraid to meet them at the bar of 
G-od. Nothing, certainly, but a deep conviction of 



PAUL IN THE PRESENCE OF FELIX. 59 

guilt, could have produced this agitation within him. 
Had he been able, like Drusilla, to ward off convic- 
tion, if not in whole, yet in part, he would, like her, 
have remained comparatively undisturbed; but be- 
cause he could not at the moment do this, because a 
strong and overpowering view of his sinfulness came 
rushing irresistibly upon him, causing him to perceive 
how vile and criminal his whole life had been before 
God, therefore he was unsettled and dismayed. And 
the excitement produced in his mind by this view of 
his moral condition and character, was strengthened 
and increased by the dread he must have felt at the 
thought of meeting his sins at the last day. This he 
was evidently afraid to do. His trembling shows that 
he feared such a reckoning, and that his very soul was 
filled with terror as he looked forward and contem- 
plated it. Nor is this to be wondered at. To a guilty 
and unforgiven man there must be something unspeak- 
ably dreadful in the thought of a judgment to come. 
That day will bring to light all his works of darkness ; 
it will proclaim in his hearing, while the whole uni- 
verse listens and looks on, all the open and hidden 
sins of his life ; and he knows that when this is done 
he will not be able to answer for one of a thousand. 
He knows that he will be completely confounded. He 
knows, also, what the awful consequences of this will 
be. He knows what it is that the Judge will then say 
to him in his confusion; what it is that awaits him 
when the word shall go forth, " Out of thy own mouth 
will I condemn thee, thou wicked servant;" what shall 
be the portion of his cup forever and ever, Felix was 
now led to consider these things. A ruler and a judge 



60 PAUL IN THE PRESENCE OF FELIX. 

himself, lie saw that he must soon stand with the 
meanest of his subjects before the Euler and Judge of 
the whole earth. A guilty sinner condemned already 
at the bar of his conscience, he felt assured that his 
guilt would appear as the noon-day then, and that he 
would also be condemned at the bar of God. And 
therefore he trembled — trembled on his own throne — 
trembled at the preaching of a man whose life was in 
his hands, and who appeared before him as a prisoner 
in bonds. 

III. The inquiry becomes now a natural one, What 
was the conduct of Felix on this occasion ? As the 
last point in our subject, I request your attention a few 
moments longer, while I endeavor to consider this in- 
quiry. "And as he reasoned," says the text, " of 
righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, 
Felix trembled and said, Go thy way for this time ; 
when I have a convenient season I will call for thee." 
Here two things are intimated : first, that Felix inter- 
rupted the apostle in the midst of his discourse, and 
abruptly dismissed him from his presence. It is said, 
as he reasoned, that is, while he was yet discoursing, 
Felix trembled, and thus addressed him. The truth 
was bearing too heavily upon his conscience to be en- 
dured ; he bore it as long as he could without crying 
aloud for mercy — as did the jailer — or sending the 
preacher away. Unhappily, he chose the latter course ; 
and so, interrupting this faithful minister of Christ, and 
promising to hear him further at another time, he di- 
rects him for the present to leave. Just as sinners now, 
unwilling to see the desperateness of their condition, 



PAUL IN THE PRESENCE OF FELIX. 61 

refuse to go to the house of God, or, if found there, to 
give attention to the word preached, or, if they can 
not avoid this, to remain the service through. They 
fear the uneasiness and misery of conviction, and so do 
not come to the light, lest their deeds should be re- 
proved. 

But it is intimated, also, that Felix resisted, and in 
doing this, overcame the effect of the apostle's preach- 
ing. That he resisted, his interruption and dismissal 
of the apostle is a significant proof. Instead of yield- 
ing, and inquiring, as every convicted sinner should 
do, " What must I do to be saved ?" he exclaimed, from 
his place of authority: "Go thy way for this time." 
Thus he stood out against conviction, and postponed 
and disregarded the duty to repent. Though he felt 
that he was a sinner, he loved his sins too well to re- 
nounce them. Though he felt that he was exposed to 
the frown and the final condemnation of Almighty God, 
he resolved to shut his eyes against the peril of his 
condition, and stifle at once the fears that alarmed him. 
A penitent spirit would have dictated a different 
course; it would have impelled him to break loose 
from his sins, to cherish his serious impressions, and to 
call mightily upon God for salvation ; but no — this 
spirit he did not possess, and therefore this course he 
did not pursue. 

But he also overcame — not merely resisted, but, in 
doing this, overcame— -his fears and convictions. An 
awakened state may come irresistibly, but it will not 
irresistibly continue. It is comparatively an easy thing 
for a man to get rid of his serious impressions ; he has 
only to treat them with indifference, and to persist in 



62 PAUL IN THE PKESENCE OF FELIX. 

sin, and they will soon enough be gone. Indeed, it is 
much easier to dismiss such feelings, no matter how 
strong and powerful they may at first be, than it is to 
cherish and retain them. Hence, determinately to re- 
sist is effectually to overcome. Thus Felix resisted, 
and thus, therefore, did he overcome. But this infer- 
ence is not the only proof we have : the context in- 
forms us, that though he frequently sent for the apostle 
after this, and communed with him, it was not that he 
might be further instructed as to the way of salvation, 
but it was to tempt him to purchase his release with 
money. How sad a certainty is this that he had suc- 
cessfully resisted the truth and quenched the Spirit ! 
Not the least intimation is given that he ever felt seri- 
ous again ; but, on the contrary, there is the strongest 
probability that he so hardened his heart and stiffened 
his neck, that he was forever after perfectly uncon- 
cerned, and that he was fully at ease in sin. The 
struggles of his mind subsided; his alarm fled, and 
suffered him again to become quiet in crime ; his fear- 
ful forebodings passed hastily away, and once more he 
went on undisturbed in his course. 

And this was the conduct of Felix on this occasion 
It was with him an important and most interesting 
hour. He might then have entered upon a new and 
glorious career. He might, in so propitious a time, 
have commenced advantageously the work of salva- 
tion. But he would not. He put off repentance ; he 
resisted conviction ; he stifled his serious feelings ; he 
let the day of his visitation pass. He said to the 
preacher, "Gro thy way for this time ;" but it was, in 
fact, saying it to the Spirit of God; it was in fact. 



PAUL IN THE PRESENCE OF FELIX. 63 

sealing his own damnation. It is no trifling affair for 
an awakened sinner to resist the truth ; it is no trifling 
affair for him to say, either to the minister or Spirit of 
God, "Go thy way;" yet Felix did it, and, without 
doubt, to his everlasting undoing. Better, inconceiv- 
ably better, had it been for him to have heard the 
apostle through, or to have interrupted with the cry : 
" "What must I do ? "Where can I find safety ? How 
escape the wrath to come ? " But such was not his 
choice : he preferred his sins to the salvation of his 
soul ; he inflicted upon himself the greatest and most 
fearful of all evils, the insensibility resulting from a 
resistance of the Gospel. 

But we must now conclude this discourse. My 
friends, you are not hearing to-night an apostle preach, 
neither are you listening to the words of any other 
than a fallible and uninspired man. But you are at- 
tending to the same Gospel which the apostle preached, 
and you are as much interested in this Gospel as was 
Felix, or any to whom the apostle proclaimed it. It 
comes to you in all its authority, and with all its high 
and gracious designs. It directs you to repent, to turn 
from your evil ways, and to believe in Jesus Christ. 
It discourses to you of righteousness, temperance, and 
judgment to come. It discloses to you your guilty 
and perishing condition, and offers to you a sure and 
complete deliverance. Say not, I beseech you, that 
you will consider its claims at some future time. To- 
day, if you will hear its voice, harden not your hearts. 
Follow not the example of Felix, and say to the mes- 
sage of mercy : Not now, but hereafter. Eemember a 
convenient season, such as you indefinitely conceive of, 



64 PAUL IN THE PRESENCE OF FELIX. 

may never come. Should you be spared, you may 
never feel as you feel now. Like Felix, you may so 
resist as to banish, all your serious impressions, and 
they may return to you no more. Every day you de- 
lay to repent increases the probability that you will 
delay till it is too late. Every time you resist the 
truth, and say, as by resistance you do say, " Gro thy 
way for this time," you enlarge the distance between 
your soul and salvation, and raise up a new barrier 
between you and heaven. Let me, then, admonish 
you to forbear. Grieve not the Spirit of Grod, Yield 
now to the force of conviction. If you are like Dru- 
silla, and feel but little, or, perhaps, nothing at all, be 
alarmed for your very insensibility, and getting down 
before Grod, entreat him to take away your heart of 
stone, and to give you a heart of flesh. It is an awful 
thing to be unconcerned for sin. Pray, therefore, pray 
earnestly that you may obtain a poor and contrite 
spirit, and that you may tremble at the word of Grod. 
But if you have this spirit already, and are thus like 
Felix rather than Drusilla, resist it not. Cherish and 
keep it. Come with it before the offended majesty of 
heaven, and seek peace and comfort only in his par- 
don, remembering he has said: "To this man will I 
look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, 
and trembleth at my word." 



SERMON IV. 

THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. 

"For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be 
found to be hateful." Psalm 36:2. 

It will be natural for you to inquire on hearing this 
text, To whom does the psalmist refer ? Who is the 
man that pursues the course and runs the hazard here 
mentioned ? The preceding verse, if you will attend 
to it, will answer this inquiry. The psalmist there 
observes : " The transgression of the wicked saith with- 
in my heart, that there is no fear of God before his 
eyes." By which he probably meant to say, that when 
he considered the course of the wicked man, marked 
his steps, and observed his indifference to religious 
principles and duties, he was led by unavoidable infer- 
ence to believe that he did not fear nor regard Grod. 
In so many words, the transgressor did not of course 
say this ; but few were ever hard enough to say it ; but, 
in his own mind, the psalmist saw it plainly. The 
conduct of the man was a sufficient evidence of it ; this 
had a voice, speaking loudly to all observers, and tell- 
ing them that here was an individual who did not fear 
to live in disobedience to his Maker. And then the 
psalmist goes on to account for this : to explain how it 
is that this man, an intelligent, a thinking, an account- 
able being, could thus live in comparative contentment 



66 THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. 

a transgressor against God. And this explanation is 
given in the text: "For he flattereth himself in his 
own eyes until his iniquity be found to be hateful." It 
is, you see then, the transgressor, the wicked man — 
and all unrenewed persons are adjudged in the Scrip- 
tures wicked — that the psalmist refers to. He pursues 
this course and runs this hazard : he flattereth himself 
in his own eyes, and 7ie, some day, will find that his 
iniquity is hateful. 

And these words, my hearers, suggest a theme on 
which I desire at this time to address you. My 
thoughts have been much occupied of late in regard to 
the religious condition of this community. We live 
together here, temporally, in great quietude and pros- 
perity — in the widest worldly sense, " under our own 
vine and fig-tree, with none to molest or make us 
afraid." Here too we enjoy man}' religious privileges. 
We have places of worship, where we may assemble to 
wait upon Grod and to seek him. We have the stated 
and faithful preaching of his word. We have the 
example too of Christian people, their counsel, admo- 
nition, and the good influence of their lives. And then, 
more than all this, we have, at least at times, the gra- 
cious and evident manifestations of the Holy Spirit. 
And yet as a general thing the people here are greatly 
indifferent as to the claims of religion. Especially is 
this so among the unconverted, in regard to their own 
salvation. The world, seemingly, occupies all their at- 
tention: its gains, its pleasures, its scenes of social 
amusement and mirth, absorb them wholly, while their 
souls, their precious, yet their perishing souls, are 
mostly unthought of, and altogether uncared for. I 



THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. 67 

have said to myself, Why is this so ? Why is it that 
my fellow-creatures around me, immortal, lost and 
ruined by sin, and hastening every day to death and 
the bar of Grod, why is it that they live so completely 
to the world, and forget that they must die and be 
judged ? And the only answer that I have been able 
to give is found in the words of the text : it is because 
they flatter themselves in their own eyes : it is because 
they have no correct apprehension of their spiritual 
condition : it is because they "do not know" and "will 
not consider." 

Let me then invite your attention to these words ; 
let me set before you, if I can, the self-flattery of sin- 
ners ; and let me try, with the blessing of God, to 
awaken you from all indifference to a proper concern 
for your souls. 

I. And first I remark that it can not be doubted as a 
fact that sinners do indeed flatter themselves as repre- 
sented. Their conduct in this respect is too plain to 
require consideration. And yet it may not come amiss 
to say that the Scriptures repeatedly affirm this of sin- 
ners, and that they do so in the form of a grave and 
serious charge. The text is one instance ; but clear 
and distinct as it is, it is no more than a specimen of 
the general representations of this holy book. It is a 
common description here of the wicked that, as they go 
on in iniquity they bless their own souls, and say, each 
one to himself, I shall have peace, though I walk in 
the imagination of my own heart. Thus, distinctly, 
were the Jews of old warned not to do, and thus, at 
times, were they as distinctly charged with doing ; and 



68 THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. 

thus in the most direct applications are transgressors 
charged personally with doing. ISTor can it come amiss 
to say more particularly that the deportment of sinners 
fully corroborates what the Scriptures thus affirm. 
They show by their lives that this is true of them ; 
they show that not only have they no fear of God be- 
fore them, but flatter themselves in their own eyes, and 
go on sinning blindly. It may be safely asserted that 
there is not a sinner on earth who would live as he 
does live, at least in the first stages of transgression, 
but for this ; not one who would act and think as he 
does — who would dare thus recklessly to throw off fear 
and restrain prayer — who could nerve up his mind to 
pursue the course he does with so little anxiety or 
concern, but for the fact that he is sporting himself 
with his own deceivings. There is not a sinner on 
earth, it may be asserted too, who in his reflecting 
moments does not know that this is so. There is 
not one who will not admit, if he is a candid man, 
that if he continually lived under such views and im- 
pressions of religious things as occasionally visit him, 
say at times in the house of Grod, or in the retirement 
of his bed-chamber, or in the seasons of unusual and 
providential affliction, he would not, nay, he could not, 
live as he does. It is only because these visitations 
are so transient — because, when he goes forth again 
into the world, they are so soon arrested in their 
good influence, and so completely expelled from the 
mind, that he does not change his course and become a 
religious man. The bustle and deceptions of life again 
prevail over him, and these juster views of truth and 
duty give way, and his former misleading views come 



THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. 69 

back upon him, and lie goes on as before a transgressor 
without fear, against God. Every sinner knows that this 
is a true picture of his state. He knows, when he consi- 
ders, that he is flattering himself in his own eyes. He 
knows there are times when he feels that his ways are 
not right and safe. He knows that the Scriptures 
charge him with hardening his heart and stiffening his 
neck, and deceiving his own soul ; and he knows in 
the more serious moments of his life that the charge is 
true. 

II. The fact then is obvious and unquestioned : all 
sinners do flatter themselves in their own eyes. Let us 
therefore in the next place consider the ways, or some 
of the more prominent ways, in which they do this. 
I say some of the more prominent ways, and I say this 
because the ways in which sinners natter themselves 
are various and multiplied. All transgressors do not 
deceive themselves in exactly the same manner. Nor 
do they always do this in one way alone. On the con- 
trary there are different pleas and processes of reason- 
ing which transgressors use in quieting the conscience, 
and what answers for one will not answer for another ; 
and so too what answers in any individual case at 
one time is found insufficient at another time. Hence 
there arises a great diversity of arguments and ex- 
cuses by which sinners justify themselves in the neg- 
lect of religion, and by which they strengthen them- 
selves to unyielding persistence in transgression. Only 
a few, then, of these arguments, these methods of self- 
flattery, can we refer to at this time. 

And first. I observe that some who flatter them- 



70 THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. 

selves in their own e} 7 es, do it with the idea that God 
does not, as is generally represented, minutely mark 
their conduct. Their conception of God is, that he is 
not only great, but distant ; that he is abstracted to a 
certain extent from our insignificant world, and that 
he does not consider what we do here of importance 
enough to deserve his careful notice. In the language 
of some of old they say: " How does God know, and is 
there knowledge in the Most High ?" Or ' : " God hath 
forgotten : he hideth his face : he will never see it." 

Such persons pesuade themselves either that God 
does not notice in detail their doings, or that he does 
not do it with a judicial purpose ; that is, with a pur- 
pose to reckon with them. In other words, they do not 
think that God will ever call them to a strict account for 
what they do in this life. They may pursue whatever 
course they most desire ; omit whatever duties appear 
to them unpleasant ; walk in whatever ways look to 
them inviting — in the ways of their own hearts, and in 
the sight of their own eyes ; in short, live as they de- 
sire, and yet it will be all well with them in the end, 
for God will not require it of them. 

It may justly appear strange to us, when we come to 
reflect upon it, that any men or class of jDersons should 
be found entertaining views and feelings like these. 
And yet such persons do exist ; the Scriptures often 
refer to them ; and while they all say these things by 
their deeds, some of them have the hardihood to say 
them in so many words. But let us inquire, What say 
the Scriptures ? What do they teach in regard to this 
plea? 

And it must be admitted that if there is any thing 



THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS, 71 

clearly taught in the Scriptures, it is that God beholds 
and carefully marks the conduct of men. "We do no- 
thing, however small or unimportant we may consider 
it, that escapes his notice. He sees all and notes all. 
He is plainly declared to be omnipresent, and as such, 
being in all places at all times. He is not only able to 
see, but necessarily sees all that we do. Mark the lan- 
guage of the Scriptures on this point: "Behold the 
heaven, and the heaven of heavens, can not contain 
thee." " Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not 
afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I 
shall not see him? Do not I fill heaven and earth ?" 
Again : " Thou compassest my path, and my lying 
down." So too they declare that God carefully inspects 
our ways. " The eyes of the Lord are in every place, 
beholding the evil and the good. The Lord looketh 
down from heaven, he beholdeth all the sons of men. 
From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all 
the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts 
alike; he consider eth all their ivories." Again: "They 
say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of 
Jacob regard it. Understand, ye brutish among the 
people : and ye fools, when will ye be wise ? He that 
planteth the ear, shall not he hear ? He that formed 
the eye shall not he see ? He that chastiseth the hea- 
then, shall not he correct? He that teacheth man 
knowledge, shall not he know ? The Lord knoweth 
the thoughts of man, that they are vanity." It is said 
too that " the ways of man are before the eyes of the 
Lord, and that he pondereth all his goings." And to 
this we may add the words of the apostle, when he 
says : " Neither is there any creature that is not mani- 



72 THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. 

fest in his sight : but all things are naked and open unto 
the eyes of him with whom we have to do." How clear 
then is it from the Scriptures that we are all known to 
God, and that he sees, not with passing indifference, 
but with a close inspection, all that we do. 

But it is equally clear that God notes our conduct 
with a judicial purpose ; a purpose strictly and solemn- 
ly to reckon with us. "The Lord," it is said in one 
place, " is a God of knowledge, and by him actions 
are weighed." It is said again : " Thine eyes are open 
upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give to every 
one according to his ways, and according to the fruit 
of his doings." Again: "Every one of us shall give 
an account of himself to God." And then we are told 
when this shall be : we are told that God hath ap- 
pointed a day in which he will judge the world in 
righteousness; when he will bring every work into 
judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good 
or evil ; when we shall all stand before his judgment- 
seat ; when we shall give an account for every idle 
word, and the very secrets of the heart ; when " the 
books shall be opened, and another book shall be open- 
ed, which is the Book of life, and the dead shall be 
judged out of those things that are written in the books, 
according to their works." These things are clearly 
declared to us in the Scriptures, and they are declared 
repeatedly and impressively. And now, after thus 
trying this plea by the test of inspiration, comparing 
it with the authoritative declarations of this holy 
book, is it not evident that those who make the plea, 
flatter themselves in their own eyes ? Is it not most 
certain that they are deceiving their souls ? 



THE SELF-FLATTEKY OF SINNEKS. 78 

But secondly, I observe that some who flatter them- 
selves do not go so far as to pretend that God does not 
regard their conduct, but take up the plea that sin is 
not, after all, so great an evil. Such persons argue 
either that sin is an indifferent thing in itself, or that it 
is connected in their case with circumstances which go 
to excuse it. Those who take the first of these posi- 
tions say that whatever apparent differences there may 
exist among men, in the moral qualities of their minds 
or the settled practices of their lives, there is no such 
ground of distinction as is generally claimed and ad- 
mitted. There is no such great and radical difference 
as to make one class righteous and the other wicked. 
This classification of men, they say, has no basis in 
fact ; it is only nominally, not essentially so. Accord- 
ing to their argument, every individual takes the 
course in life his own inclinations dictate, and it is 
right and proper for him to do so ; and in doing it 
all are equally blameless and innocent. One is no 
more deserving censure, and is in reality no more 
criminal, than another. But those who take the other 
position do not venture to so daring an expression 
of their views as this, but allow a real distinction be- 
tween virtue and vice : their argument is, that sin is 
indeed an evil, but then it is not so great an evil but 
that circumstances justify it in their case. There are 
things respecting the question of innocence or guilt in 
its relation to them to be considered. Their situation 
in life is very peculiar ; their proclivity to sin is won- 
derfully strong ; their temptations and enticements to 
evil are unusuallv numerous ; and many other things 
perhaps concur to overcome their will and to carry them 
4 



74 THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. 

on against their better judgment to deeds of iniquity 
and crime. And these circumstances, they reason, just- 
ify them in their course, and relieve them from the 
guilt that would otherwise accrue to them. 

But what, let us again ask, say the Scriptures ? 
What is the judgment that an understanding of their 
teachings must lead us to form of this plea ? 

Every one knows that so far as the language of 
Scripture is concerned, it is directly opposed to these 
views of sin. Every one must know too, where atten- 
tion has been given to the language of Scripture on this 
subject, that it can not be construed so as to favor these 
views. A clear distinction is here made to appear, and 
it runs through the whole volume, and is presented in 
a great diversity of forms, between virtue and vice, 
holiness and sin. It is also clearly declared that this 
distinction divides mankind into two great classes, and 
that every man belongs positively to one class or the 
other. In other words, it is clearly declared that every 
man is either guilty or innocent ; and that every one 
that committeth sin is guilty, and that he that doeth 
righteousness is righteous. It is declared also that in 
respect to this matter every man shall bear his own 
burden : that God is no respecter of persons, and that 
no circumstances whatever, no temptations however 
strong, no love or proneness to sin, however great, can 
justify any man in omitting duties that God enjoins or 
doing things that He forbids. There is, this infallible 
revelation assures us, such a thing as sin, and it tells 
us that there is no excuse for it. You can forsake it 
if you will ; and if you will not, a fearful criminality 
and guiltiness must rest upon your soul. The com- 



THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. 75 

mand to you is, Eepent and turn from your evil ways 
— Cease to do evil and learn to do well — and if you 
will not submit to this command, you insult the divine 
majesty by making apologies. Hear what the Most 
High says on this point: "Wo unto them that call 
evil good, and good evil ; that put darkness for light, 
and light for darkness ; that put bitter for sweet, and 
sweet for bitter. Wo unto them that are wise in their 
own eyes, and prudent in their own sight." Yes, if 
this is your plea, wo to you, for you are flattering 
yourself in your own eyes. 

But again : others who flatter themselves do it with 
the idea that the punishment of sin, admitting that it 
is<a great evil and in no case excusable, can not be as 
dreadful as is generally feared. They do not feel en- 
tirely satisfied with either of the foregoing pleas. They 
are some how unable to believe that God has so far 
withdrawn jurisdiction over us as to take no particular 
notice of our proceedings ; neither can they persuade 
themselves that sin is, after all, a fiction. Still they 
will not give up, and turn from their folly and seek 
God. They therefore try to believe that, though sin 
may be an evil, and on the whole unjustifiable, yet its 
consequences can not be so alarming as we are taught 
to suppose. There must, they will admit, be some 
kind of punishment ; but it will not prove so severe 
as many imagine, neither will it be so enduring. 

Now there are doubtless many who strive hard to 
be satisfied with this flattering hope; and there are 
doubtless many others who, though not openly profess- 
ing to be satisfied with it, in their hearts think that 
possibly it may be so. But the important question is, 



76 THE SELF-FLATTEBY OF SINNEKS. 

What ground has any man to believe this, and to rest 
his eternal interests upon it ? What say the Scriptures ? 
Do they authorize such a secret interpretation of their 
most explicit and solemn utterances? Surely in a 
matter of this kind it is well to pause, and seriously to 
consider this inquiry ; and sure I am that those who do 
consider it will see that there is no ground whatever 
for such a hope, no basis for such a flattering of their 
souls. 

Let us examine your plea just for a moment. You 
say then, in the first place, that the punishment of sin 
will not prove so severe as we are taught to imagine. 
Now if you are correct in this, how, I ask, are we to 
account for the strong, and I may say the awful de- 
scriptions, given us of the punishment of sin in this 
book ? I need not refer to these descriptions, for you 
are well aware how they run, and are familiar with the 
language in which they are given. The strongest and 
most forcible terms are employed, the liveliest and 
most vivid figures are pressed into service, and alto- 
gether the deepest and most thrilling impressions are 
made upon the mind, in regard to this ultimate issue 
of a life of sin. Wrath, tribulation, and anguish; 
cursed, banished, and destroyed ; the smoke of tor- 
ment, the blackness of darkness, the worm that dieth 
not, and the fire that is not quenched ; weeping, wail- 
ing, and the gnashing of teeth — such are some of the 
phrases used to describe the future retribution of the 
sinner. And surely, such language is not used by 
inspiration of the Spirit without a significant meaning : 
surely, it can not be said of such expressions that they 
are merely rhetorical flourishes, intended to parade a 



THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINKERS. 77 

sentence, or to produce a dramatic effect. Grod does 
not trifle thus with his intelligent creatures. "When 
he says that he will punish the transgressor he means 
what he says; and when in describing this punish- 
ment he uses forms of speech presenting the most im- 
pressive images of wo, he designs that we shall con- 
sider how great this punishment shall be. But upon 
your view it is not so. You make the Bible an un- 
meaning book. You make it say things that it does 
not intend that we should believe. In short, you make 
it out to be no more than a book of romance or poetry. 
But you say further that the punishment of sin will 
not be as durable as is generally supposed. The com- 
mon impression is, that it is eternal : that, severe as it 
will prove, it will be also without end. But this you 
flatter yourself is a mistake ; it is an old superstition, 
unworthy an enlightened age, and irreconcilable with 
the fact that God is infinitely merciful. You argue 
that there will be no punishment at all in another world, 
or that it will after a space accomplish its design and 
then cease. Have you, however, candidly asked your- 
self why you argue thus*? Do you seriously believe 
that the Scriptures furnish you the premises from which 
you may draw this conclusion ? Do they not, on the 
other hand, unequivocally declare that there is punish- 
ment for the wicked beyond death? And do they 
not repeatedly and without the least qualification, apply 
to this punishment the words, "everlasting," "eternal," 
and " without end" ? Do you in heart really believe 
that the Scriptures could have announced the doctrine 
of future and eternal punishment more distinctly than 
they do by any language or methods of statement what- 



78 THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. 

ever? Can you imagine how they could do this? 
And must you not be driven to regard their style, if 
not their purpose, such as to mislead and perplex us 
if they do not indeed teach this doctrine ? I can not 
suppose, if you are a reasonable and candid man, that 
you feel perfectly contented in your position under the 
pressure of inquiries like these. The Bible means 
something or nothing ; and wo be to the individual 
who dares to trifle with the solemn teachings of this 
book. 

The question is not, how can the doctrine of endless 
punishment be reconciled with the benevolence of God, 
or with any other attribute of his character ; for this is 
a point on which we are not qualified to judge, because 
we can have in regard to it no adequate information. 
"We might as well ask, how can any punishment, how 
can any suffering indeed, be made to harmonize with 
the consideration that God is good and that his tender 
mercies are over all his works ? We are not compe- 
tent to investigate such questions, and our business is 
to leave them where they belong, entirely to the sove- 
reignty of God. The only question with us is, What 
has God declared to us in the Scriptures ? Does he 
here say that he will punish the wicked forever ? If 
he does, we have no right to quibble with his declara- 
tion : we are bound to believe that it is just that the 
wicked should be thus punished, and we may not try 
to explain away the force and natural import of these 
teachings. When you do so, you flatter yourself in 
your own eyes. Your duty is to repent and submit to 
God : if you will refuse to do this with the vain hope 
that the consequences will not be, after all, very alarm- 



THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. 79 

ing, that no great punishment awaits you, at least no 
eternal punishment, you will impose the most cruel 
deception upon your soul, and will bewail your course 
with unending regret in the world to come. This plea 
is also then futile, it is false and nattering. 

Another class of persons who flatter themselves in 
their own eyes modify this plea to a certain extent, 
and thus upon new ground succeed in quieting their 
conscience and in making themselves believe that they 
are safe. They admit that there is a future state of 
punishment, both severe and endless, but they singu- 
larly imagine that they in some way will escape it. 
Either they will not be punished for their sins at all, 
or it will be very lightly. They can not explain how 
this can be, nor even assign the least show of reason 
for entertaining so vain an imagination, and yet they 
give it a place in their minds, and are evidently taking 
hope from it. Perhaps there are some here, sitting 
somewhere in this house at this time, who have no 
better plea to justify them in their continuance in sin 
than this ; some who are vainly supposing that when 
the wicked shall be driven away at the last day in 
their wickedness, they shall some how or other be al- 
lowed to escape. If there is one such person here, let 
me ask him if he really thinks that he is acting the 
part of wisdom in resting his hope for eternity on so 
baseless a notion ? It is altogether, you must know, 
an idle imagination, a mere freak of the fancy, to which 
you are thus holding fast, and which like a bubble will 
break as soon as you launch on the ocean of the future. 
You can not rationally suppose that when God inflicts 
punishment upon those who die in sin that he will let 



80 THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. 

just you escape. You have no reason in the world to 
expect this partiality. Sin is as great an evil in you 
as in others ; it is just as offensive in the sight of God ; 
it is just as deserving his condemnation ; and you will 
be able to do no more than others to excuse or atone for 
it. "Why, then, should you dream of any special fa- 
vor ? Is it not, to be plain, the height of folly for you 
to do so ? Moreover, do you not by this idea reflect 
upon the justice and mercy of God ? For if he might 
let you escape might he not also let all escape ? You 
surely have no such conception of the Most High that 
lie punishes the wicked merely to gratify himself. 
You must know perfectly well that he takes no pleas- 
ure in the punishment of the impenitent, but con- 
demns and delivers them over to this doom because 
justice demands it ; because he finds it necessary in 
the administration of his moral government to proceed 
in this manner with the rebellious. You know this, 
and therefore you must see that in supposing it possi- 
ble for you while guilty to escape, you imply that it is 
not absolutely needful for God to punish sin, and that 
it is only from the want of a favorable disposition to- 
ward men that he does it. But not to reason with 
you thus, do you know that the Scriptures positively 
declare that to the finally impenitent escape is impossi- 
ble? Their solemn interrogation to you is, How can 
you escape if you neglect so great salvation ? Their 
plain declaration is, that there is no other name given 
under heaven whereby you can be saved but the name 
of Christ ; and that if you turn away from him there 
remaineth nothing but a certain, fearful expectation of 
wrath and fiery indignation. Is not your plea then a 



THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNEES. 81 

mere delusion ? Are you not imposing upon yourself 
an idle yet a terrible self-deception? Are you not 
blindfolding your own eyes, and thus rushing on with 
heedless steps to perdition ? 

But there is one way more in which sinners flatter 
themselves, that I desire to notice before dismissing 
this part of the subject. It is, perhaps, the most com- 
mon way of all, and yet as groundless as any; it is the 
ever ready and continually offered plea — there is time 
enough yet. I am now young, or I am in sound and 
perfect health, or I have the impression that I shall not 
be called away before I have time to prepare. Many 
live to be old, and why may not I ? Many pursue the 
pleasures of the world in youth, attend to its business 
in riper years, enjoy and accumulate all that their cir- 
cumstances permit for years, and then, as old age 
comes on, direct their attention to the world to come : 
why may I not do the same ? Or many, on their dy- 
ing-beds — like the thief on the cross — have repented, 
obtained pardon, and died in peace : is there any rea- 
son why it can not be so with me ? Dear hearer, I 
speak only the words of truth and soberness, when I 
say you are flattering and deceiving your immortal 
soul. Suppose some do live to be old, do not others — 
nay, do not most die in youth or in the prime of man- 
hood? Suppose, too, some do in old age seek and 
obtain a preparation for death, is it not generally the 
case that those who live on unconcerned till then, live 
so to the last, or put up with a false and flimsy hope ? 
And suppose some do on the bed of their last sickness 
desire and profess to find pardon, do not many die in 
despair, many in unconsciousness, and many besides in 
4* 



82 THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. 

strange indifference ? while there is ground to fear, that 
among those who seem to find peace some are fatally 
deceived. And then, again, admitting that but few 
comparatively are called away suddenly, without the 
warning of an hour, are not some so called, and are 
not all liable to the awful possibility? and may you 
not be among the actual number ? And now, in view 
of all this, with the chances so obviously against you, 
let me ask, if it is reasonable for you to say, There is 
time enough yet ? Is there time enough, when you 
may die to-morrow — nay, to-day — even this very hour? 
Is there time enough, when "in the midst of life you 
are in death" ? when " dangers stand thick through all 
the ground to push you to the tomb"? Have you 
never felt within your mortal frame the indications of 
weakness and decay ? Have you never seen a fellow 
cut down in his bloom or his prime, nor followed 
some dear and loved one to "the house appointed for 
all living"? How, then, can you say there is time 
enough yet ? It is a mistake, I assure you — a fatal 
mistake ; it is a device of the enemy to ruin you. In- 
stead of time in abundance, there is hardly time for so 
great work at most. Instead of a certainty of sufficient 
time to you, there is a doubt if you delay that should 
alarm and terrify you. In a few years you shall go the 
way whence you shall not return ; and with you those 
years may be well-nigh gone. The hour of your de- 
parture is at hand ; and it may be much nearer than 
you suppose. " This night," as you go from this house 
to your bed-chamber, Grod may say: " This night thy 
soul shall be required of thee." Say no more, then, 
that there is time enough to repent and work out your 



THE SELF-FLATTEKY OF SINNERS. 83 

salvation. Cease thus grievously to flatter yourself 
No longer with so vain a hope continue to strengthen 
and comfort yourself in iniquity, but to-day, if' you 
hear his voice, harden not your heart. 

III. Thus, then, does this subject stand before us. 
It is a marked fact in the career of the sinner, that he 
natters himself in his own eyes ; and the ways in which 
this is done are multiplied and various. But there is 
another aspect to the subject that we must not pass 
over. It must be obvious from the drift of our re- 
marks thus far, that no man can take this course and 
be safe. There is absolute danger in living in this way. 
No one can thus natter himself, without shutting his 
eyes to his own good, and placing his dearest interests 
at the most alarming hazard. The result, then — the 
evil result of self-flattery presents itself also for con- 
sideration. 

And this, you will observe, is indicated in the text, 
in the words: " Till his iniquity be found to be hateful." 
The force of these words is, that sin is hateful, and that 
some day the sinner will find for himself that it is so. 
It is hateful in itself, hateful before Grod, and hateful 
before all the good and pure of the universe. So, too, 
the transgressor shall also come to regard it. Now he 
closes his eyes, pursues the desires of his heart, and 
dreams that all will be well. Now sin looks pleasant 
to him ; speaks in a winning voice ; presents its fasci- 
nations ; beguiles and entices him. Now he does not 
stop to think that there is evil underneath this fair as- 
pect; that there is corruption and vileness in union 
with these seeming charms ; that there is destruction 



84 THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNERS. 

lurking behind it all ; a thorn with every flower, pain 
with every pleasure, remorse and bitterness in every 
cup of joy. But he is hastening to a season when he 
will be quickly undeceived. The time is not distant 
when the veil will be taken from his eyes, the enchant- 
ment that holds him spell-bound broken, and the 
odiousness of his sin boldly appear. Then he will see 
that he has indeed flattered himself all his days, and 
that the way of the transgressor is hard. 

Often, to some extent, does the sinner find that this 
is the case, even in the present life. When health is 
broken down, and disease and debility come upon him; 
when he is unable any longer to run with the multi- 
tude to do evil, or to relish the pleasures of the world, 
then he has time, and is compelled to reflect ; then he 
realizes how empty and vile, though outwardly gay, 
are all the pursuits of sin ; and then he is forced to 
admit that he has thrown away his life for vanity and 
nothing. But more especially will this be the case 
when he comes to die. Then, on his languishing couch, 
how hateful will his iniquity appear to him ! As it 
comes up from the past and stares him in the face, and 
he is reminded how many duties he has neglected, how 
many mercies he has abused, how many wicked 
thoughts and words and deeds have stained his life, 
how odious a thing will sin look then ! With what 
regret and self-reproach will he then review his by- 
gone life ! How will he wish that he might return to 
the days of his innocence and childhood, and live over 
his existence again ! But it will be too late .to mend 
the past, and he will go to his eternity realizing the 
fact, that with all its fair show, sin is dreadfully hateful. 



THE SELF-FLATTERY OF SINNEES. 85 

But, in a keener sense still, will he realize this in the 
day of judgment. Then, indeed, will his iniquity ap- 
pear odious. Some may not see it so, particularly in 
this life, nor yet in their dying-hour; but in that 
awful day all will view it in this light clearly and un- 
mistakably. With what astonishment and confusion 
will the sinner then discover the turpitude and crimi- 
nality of transgression ! In what dark and frightful 
colors will all his evil deeds and moral delinquencies 
then stand out before him ! His mirth and heedless 
gayety ; his pride and love of the world ; his neglect 
of prayer and desecration of the Sabbath ; his vain and 
idle words ; his misspent time in parties of pleasure, 
the ball-room, the theatre, the saloon for drink and 
gaming ; in fine, all that he ever did in offending Grod 
and neglecting the Grospel ; how dismal and dreadful 
will these things seem to him then. And when the 
Judge shall rise up and pronounce sentence against 
him ; when he shall declare before the intelligent uni- 
verse that he is guilty, and in his sovereign character 
say to him — Depart ; when the gates of despair shall 
open and take him in ; when his abode is thus fixed 
forever in a state of banishment and wo, then in its 
fullest, broadest, deepest sense, will he find that his 
iniquity is hateful. 

The result, then, of such a course is ruin : self-flattery 
is self-destruction. It is the destruction of the soul, in 
the sense of its everlasting exclusion from the favor 
and the presence of God. It is the destruction of its 
hope, of its happiness, of its spiritual and future wel- 
fare. It is its failure of blessedness, its certain gain of 
perdition. It is its loss of heaven, its harvest of dis- 



86 THE SELF-FLATTEEY OF SINNERS. 

appointment and wo. It is all that is sad and gloomy 
and lamentable in the future. 

Let me, then, in conclusion, ask if there are any self- 
flatterers here to-night ; and if there are, let me entreat 
them to stop and consider. You have surely, dear 
fellow-sinner, gone far enough in transgression, and 
approached near enough its direful consequences. Stop, 
therefore, at once, and take not another forward step. 
Turn about immediately, and persist not one moment 
longer in so certain a course to ruin. Yon must plainly 
see, by the reflections presented, that he that sinneth 
wrongeth his own soul ; that the wicked worketh a de- 
ceitful work ; and that soon, having sown the to wind, 
you must reap the whirlwind. You must see, that in- 
stead of a bright and gladdening, there is a dark and 
dreary end before you ; and that, instead of terminat- 
ing, as you have tried hard to believe, in peace and 
safety, amid the bloom and the ever- verdant scenery of 
the better land, the path you tread leads to the desolate 
region of despair, where the streams of pleasure never 
flow, nor verdure, nor bloom, nor sunshine, nor flowers 
ever appear. Oh ! it is an awful thing to be a sinner ! 
But it is more awful, now that a way of escape is 
opened, to flatter yourselves that you are safe, and in 
your dream of security to go on, overlooking and neg- 
lecting this way, and with thoughtless steps passing 
irretrievably into the land of banishment and dark- 
ness ! Pause in your ruinous career, awake from your 
soul-destroying sleep, I beseech you. Only a little 
ahead lies the fatal destiny to which sin must certainly 
conduct you. It is a deep, dark, measureless abyss of 
wo: one day, one hour more may bring you there. 



THE SELF-FLATTEKY OF SINNEKS. 87 

As there is only a step between you and death, so 
there is only a step between you and hell. Stop, then, 
I repeat it — stop. Stop and hear the gentle voice of 
the Spirit, saying to you, Come this way. Stop and 
weep over your sins and your hardness, and cry in the 
fullness of your soul for pardon and grace to help you. 
Stop, and begin, in real earnestness, to pray: "Have 
mercy upon me, God ! according to thy loving-kind- 
ness ; according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, 
blot out all my iniquities. Deliver me, and have mercy 
upon me. Make haste, Lord ! to help me." And 
then, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as 
white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they 
shall be as wool. Then you will pass from death unto 
life. Then you will have a hope in Christ that will 
not make you ashamed. In the place of self-flattery, 
you will rest on the sure foundation. Confidence and 
joy will take the place of unconcern. Your song will 
be, Lord ! I will praise thee, for though thou wast 
angry with me, thy anger is turned away, and thou 
comforteth me. 



SERMON V. 

DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE KIGHTEOUS AND WICKED, 

1 The wicked is driven away in his wickedness; but the righteous hath 
hope in his death." Peoverbs 14: 32. 

We are continually reminded in the Scriptures that 
mankind are divided into two great classes, and that 
these are separated the one from the other by a plain 
and obvious line of demarkation. There are, they te^J. 
us, the good and the evil — the godly and the ungodly; 
or, to use their most common language — the language 
of the text — the righteous and the wicked. And this 
classification, they tell us, includes all who belong to 
our species. There are none who are not either right- 
eous or wicked; who, however they may differ as to 
the shades of character, are not either virtuous or sin- 
ful — the friends or the enemies of God. And they tell 
us that the distinction between them is broad and 
essential. As there is no neutrality, so, too, the line 
of separation is not fanciful and unimportant. Light 
no more differs from darkness in the things of nature, 
than moral goodness differs from moral evil. There is 
an immeasurable distance between them, and they can 
never approximate, never be reconciled together. Did 
the occasion demand it, we might call to our aid a mul- 
titude of Scriptural passages confirming the view thus 
referred to. We might quote the words of the prophet, 



THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED. 89 

"Wo to them that call good evil, and evil good;" and 
the words of the apostle: "What fellowship hath right- 
eousness with unrighteousness?" And in connection 
with these we might quote some of those numerous 
passages ; which speak directly of the righteous and 
wicked, and describe in contrast their character and 
reward. We might refer to the words of the prophet 
in another place, where he is directed by the Almighty 
to say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, 
for they shall eat the fruit of their doings ; and to the 
wicked that it shall be ill with them, for the reward of 
their hands shall be given them. Or we might refer 
to the words of Malachi, where he tells us that the 
time is coming when Grod will so manifest the charac- 
ters of men, that we shall at once discern between the 
righteous and the wicked, between those who serve 
God and those who serve him not. Or we might refer 
to the words of Christ, where he describes so vividly 
the day of judgment, and represents this division of 
the human race as pertaining not only to this life, but 
to the life to come, and extending onward through 
eternity. "When the Son of Man shall come in his 
glory, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : 
and before him shall be gathered all nations ; and he 
shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd 
divideth the sheep from the goats ; and he shall place 
the sheep on the right hand, and the goats on the left." 
And then, after this separation has been made — a sepa- 
ration executed on the basis of moral character — and 
placing visibly every individual where he belongs, the 
Son of Man, thus seated as the judge, will arise and say 
to those on the right hand, " Come, ye blessed of my 



90 DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE 

Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the 
foundation of the world:" and to those on the left: 
" Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre- 
pared for the devil and his angels." And then it is 
said, "These" — the wicked, on the left — "shall go 
away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous 
into life eternal." And thus we see how clear is the 
Scriptural representation that men are either good or 
bad, righteous or wicked ; that there is a distinction 
among them, and that this distinction obtains in time 
and in eternity. 

The object I have in mind in directing your atten- 
tion to this view of human condition at this time, is to 
set before you, as the subject for present contemplation, 
the difference in character and destiny between the 
righteous and the wicked ; and I sincerely hope that 
it is a subject that will not fail to leave a useful and 
permanent impression on your minds. 

The line of thought that I design to pursue, is to 
point out, in the first place, the peculiar character of 
the righteous, as distinguishing them from other men, 
and then, in the next place, the hope with which they 
depart this life. 

I. And the first remark I make is, that the character 
of the righteous, by which they are distinguished from 
other men, is not native, but acquired. It is a truth 
repeatedly affirmed in the Holy Scriptures, that by 
nature no man is righteous. Hence those who now 
sustain this character were once children of wrath, even 
as others; guilty, depraved, and unholy; not subject 
to the law of Grod, nor, indeed, capable of being sub- 



KIGHTEOUS AND WICKED. 91 

ject to it, until renewed. They were as a sheep going 
astray. They were on the other — the wrong and crimi- 
nal side of the line of separation : they were transgress- 
ors. However amiable they may have been in their 
general disposition, they were, notwithstanding, es- 
tranged from God and disobedient to him. However 
early they may have paused in their career, and be- 
come thoughtful and serious, and turned to the Lord, 
yet there was a time with all of them when they were 
living in sin, and were without God and without hope 
in the world. All of them were born with a nature 
inclined to evil, and following their natural bias, all 
of them went astray in transgression, and came short 
of the glory of God. The character, then, in which 
they now appear, and by which they are separated 
from the rest of mankind, is something that they have 
sought and obtained. It is not hereditary, not pos- 
sessed by birth or inheritance, but is an acquisition 
they have individually made since coming into the 
world. They have hecome righteous. They have been 
brought over from the other to this side of the dividing 
line. They were afar off, but have been brought nigh 
by the blood of Christ. They were the servants of 
sin, but they have been delivered from the power of 
darkness, and have been translated from the kingdom 
of Satan into the kingdom of God's dear Son. 

But this remark leads me to another, allied some- 
what to it, and which is, that if the righteous are not 
what they are by nature, they are not so by the law, 
but by grace. Or, in other words, their righteousness 
is not legal, but evangelical. It is of primary import- 
ance to keep this distinction clearly in mind ; for if we 



92 DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE 

do not, we shall find it impossible to comprehend the 
nature and glory of the Gospel. The Scriptures, in 
unfolding the way of salvation, are very explicit in 
their allusions to this distinction ; and it may be truly 
said, that those who have read the sacred volume 
without noticing these allusions, have no conception 
of its true and spiritual import. They are in darkness 
with respect to the economy of redemption, and it 
must be to them a vague and undefined mystery. 

By legal righteousness, then, let us observe — or, as 
it is expressed in the Scriptures, "the righteousness of 
the law" — we are to understand such a condition of in- 
nocence and of acceptance before God as results from 
perfect and uu deviating obedience to him. It is the 
righteousness of personal rectitude. In this sense the 
angels in heaven are righteous, for they stand before 
God pure and innocent from transgression. They 
have always kept his law, and have served him with 
all their powers from the first dawn of their being 
until now. They have never violated the precepts 
nor principles of his law, and have never been indif- 
ferent nor reluctant in attention to duty. Judged by 
the law, which is "holy, just, and good," and whose 
high standard is perfect and faultless, they are irre- 
proachable and pure. Consequently they are righteous 
legally; they are accepted on the ground of obedience; 
they have never sinned, have never been guilty, have 
never been condemned; there never was a moment 
when they were not righteous. 

But this is a sense, it is very clear, in which no hu- 
man being since the fall of Adam has been or can be 
righteous. As we have already observed, all meD are 



KIGHTEOUS AND WICKED. 93 

sinners. Inheriting from our first parents a proclivity 
to sin, we go astray from our birth, transgressing and 
incurring guilt ; and it is not till we are renewed by 
grace that we cease from disobedience and guilt. We 
are not subject to the law of Grod; neither in our natural 
state, as the apostle affirms, can we be. We have no 
conformity to it, but in the moral outlines of our 
character, and in the course and general tenor of our 
lives, are opposed to it and at enmity with it. Before 
the law, therefore, we stand condemned. It does not 
approve of us, does not accept of us. On the other 
hand, it declares us unworthy and unrighteous, and 
proclaims against us the sentence of rejection and 
death. This is plainly the teaching of the Scriptures 
on this momentous point. It is obviously the meaning 
of the psalmist, when he tells us that the Lord looked 
down from heaven upon the children of men, to see 
if there were any who feared him, and that he found 
that all had gone out of the way, and become filthy, 
that there was none righteous — no, not one. It is the 
meaning, too, of our Lord and his apostles, who unani- 
mously teach that all men are sinners, that all are con- 
demned by the law, and that by the deeds of the law 
can no flesh be justified. 

This leads me to remark now, that by evangelical 
righteousness, or, to use the Scriptural expression for 
this also, "the righteousness of faith," we are to under- 
stand that state of acceptance and favor with Grod pro- 
vided for us in the Gospel, and, when we believe, be- 
stowed upon us through the merits of the Eedeemer. 
Unlike legal righteousness, it is a righteousness given 
to us. We can not work it out for ourselves, nor can 



94 DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE 

we claim it on the ground of obedience. It is entirely 
gratuitous. According to the constant language of 
Scripture, it is of grace. It comes to us, meeting us in 
our state of deficiency and guilt, and making up to us 
that which we have lost, and which of ourselves we 
could never regain. It supplies our wants ; makes good 
our defects; retrieves our failure; delivers us from 
condemnation. It takes away our guilt, destroys the 
enmity of our hearts toward God, and restores us to 
favor and friendship with him. In a word, it puts us 
back to the state we should have occupied had we 
never sinned, thereby covering all our transgressions, 
removing all our curse, and constituting us the child- 
ren and the heirs of God. 

And in this sense the Scriptures speak of those who 
are righteous, just as decidedly as in the other sense they 
declare that there is none righteous. Abraham, they 
say, for instance, believed Grod, and it was accounted 
to him for righteousness. They also affirm that there 
is a reward for the righteous ; that it shall be well 
with the righteous ; that the righteous shall be blessed 
on the earth; and that hereafter the righteous shall 
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. 
But in speaking in this manner, we are not to consider 
the Scriptures as contradicting themselves in what they 
say on the other side of this subject. Only keep in 
mind the distinction we are noticing, and all is at once 
plain. It is true that under the law there are none 
righteous ; but yet it is also true, that under the Gospel 
there are those whom God designates righteous. The 
law, on account of sin, condemns all men, and places 
them under sentence of death ; but the Gospel delivers 






RIGHTEOUS AND WICKED. 95 

such as believe from this sentence, removes their con- 
demnation, and restores them to a state of acceptance 
and reconciliation. Hence we read, that "there is no 
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus ; that 
being justified by faith, we have peace with God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ ; that Christ is the end 
of the law for righteousness to them that believe ; and 
that what the law could not do in that it was weak 
through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the 
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, (that is, for a sin- 
offering,) condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous- 
ness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not 
after the flesh, but after the Spirit." And thus we see 
how it is, that while there is no such thing as legal 
righteousness among men, there may be what we de- 
nominate evangelical righteousness. We see how the 
Scriptures may consistently declare, " There is none 
righteous, no, not one;" and yet, "To him that work- 
eth not" — him that hath failed perfectly to keep the 
law — "but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, 
his faith is counted for righteousness." 

And now, having proceeded so far in our remarks, 
we are prepared to notice more particularly what the 
righteousness of those who believe is. If, as we have 
seen, it is not native, nor legal, but evangelical ; if, 
that is, it is through Christ, and through him for beings 
guilty and depraved, then it must consist in these two 
particulars — the pardon of sins, and the regeneration 
of the heart. As guilty and depraved beings these 
gifts or attainments are the indispensable condition of 
our acceptance with God. Our guilt is the consequence 
of our actual transgressions ; until therefore these are 



yt) * DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE 

pardoned, our guilt must remain against us, and the 
law we have violated must hold us under the sentence 
of condemnation. Our depravity is the natural incli- 
nation of our hearts to do evil, developed and strength- 
ened by disobedience and sin ; and until our hearts are 
renewed and rectified, changed by divine grace and 
turned toward Grod, our depravity must retain its do- 
minion over us, and carry us persistently away from 
duty and holiness. To be righteous, consequently, we 
must experience each of these blessings : this change 
of judicial relation, and this change of moral nature. 
And these blessings we do experience the moment we 
believe on Christ. Abraham, when he believed, ex- 
perienced them and was accounted righteous ; and so 
too do all who exercise the same saving faith. And 
they are always experienced in connection, as concom- 
itant parts of our salvation. All whom God pardons 
he regenerates at the same time, and he accepts them 
and acknowledges them for the sake of his Son. Hence 
it is said, " There is no condemnation to them that are 
in Christ Jesus; 11 and, " If any man be in Christ he is a 
new creature; old things have passed away, and all 
things have become new." Hence we read too that 
all who thus believe in Christ are reconciled unto Cod 
through him ; are renewed in knowledge after the 
image of Him that created them ; and that Christ is 
made unto them wisdom, righteousness, salification, 
and redemption. Thus pardon, or as it is generally 
styled in the New Testament, justification by faith, and 
with this the spiritual regeneration of the soul by the 
Holy Spirit, are the attainments requisite to constitute 
a righteous man, and all who enjoy these attainments 



RIGHTEOUS AND WICKED. 97 

have been separated from the world, have passed over 
to the other side of the dividing line, and belong to 
Christ. 

Here we might now leave this part of our subject, 
but another thought too important to be passed by 
arises, and deserves to be just referred too. It is that 
though the righteousness of believers is not legal, but 
entirely of grace, yet it implies and secures obedience 
to the law. It does not come from the law, yet it leads 
to it ; it is of faith, yet of faith in such a sense that 
instead of making void the law it establishes it. There- 
fore we read, "He is righteous who doeth righteous- 
ness :" which means, simply, that every one who is 
really righteous, who has been forgiven and regene- 
rated, will give proof of his state by the correctness of 
his life. The apostle James, too, is full and explicit on 
this point ; devoting a large portion of his epistle to 
it, and showing very clearly that without works there 
can be no justification, that is, no proof or evidence of 
justification. Faith without corresponding obedience, 
he tells us, is vain : it is worthless and futile ; it can 
not save us ; can not please God ; does not constitute 
any man righteous. The faith that saves, and by 
which we are justified, is a principle of action ; it is a 
living faith, that works by love and purifies the heart, 
and brings back the mind from enmity to subjection to 
the law of Grod. " Was not Abraham, our father," he 
inquires, "justified by works ?" And then he goes on to 
observe that his faith did indeed work, that is, manifest 
itself, by obedience ; and that thus the Scripture was 
fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed Grod, and it 
was accounted to him for righteousness. And so he 



98 DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE 

reasons it must be with all who believe. They must 
show their faith by their works. They must be always 
found in the path of obedience. They must keep all 
the commandments ; they must devote themselves to 
works of benevolence and piety ; they must come out 
from the world and be separate, and not touch any 
unclean thing. They must deny themselves of all un- 
godliness and worldly lust, and live soberly, right- 
eously, and godly in this present evil world. In a 
word, they must let their light so shine before men, 
that others may see their good works, and glorify their 
father which is in heaven. 

I. But we must pass now to consider in the next 
.ace, briefly, the blessed hope with which the righteous 
depart this life. The psalmist directs us to mark the 
perfect man, and to behold the upright, for the end of 
that man is peace. We have marked or contemplated 
the character he refers to in the preceding observations ; 
let us now contemplate the peaceful end awaiting all 
those to whom this character belongs ; the end that 
hundreds and thousands have experienced, and which 
is the promised and certain reward of faith and piety. 
" The wicked," says the text, " is driven away in his 
wickedness, but the righteous hath hope in his death." 
There is just one particular then in regard to which 
the two classes of mankind are upon the same footing ; 
and that is, all of both classes must die. They must 
all in common be laid in the grave. The sentence is 
irreversible, and has respect to all. "Dust thou art, and 
unto dust shalt thou return." In this particular Grod 
has ordered no distinction in destiny between the 



KIGHTEOUS AND WICKED. 99 

righteous and the wicked. But when we come to this 
point a great and momentous distinction immediately 
appears. They all die, but they do not die alike. 
Their bodies go down to the silence and darkness of 
the tomb, but their spirits go forth into the world be- 
yond in a perfect contrast of circumstances and pros- 
pects. Here a wide separation again appears, and they 
leave the world in keeping with their character and 
manner of life. 

First, the wicked is driven away in his wickedness 
He has lived as he would — thoughtlessly, mirthfully 
neglectfully; forgetting Grod, and religion, and eter- 
nity ; living for this world and the things of the world 
and now his time has come to die. His days are num 
bered, and all his plans, and purposes, and pleasures 
must come to an end. He must leave the things he 
has loved so well, and which have so charmed, and yet 
deceived him, and must go the way of all the earth. 
But alas ! he is unprepared for his departure, and is 
unwilling to go. He looks upon the past ; it is stained 
with guilt : he looks upon the future ; it is dark with 
gloom. His soul within him is filled with fear. The 
world on which he has bestowed his affections, and to 
which he still clings, with the wish that he might enjoy 
it forever, fades steadily from his vision, and sinks 
away before the realities of the eternal state. He shud- 
ders at the prospect before him, and recoils from the 
very thought of his doom. But it is unavailing ; the 
mandate will not be recalled ; death will not pass him 
by, and let him escape ; he must release his hold on 
earth ; he must, he must depart. Dark as is the pros- 
pect before him, he can not turn away from it, but 



100 DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE 

must go with all his dread to realize it. Eagerly as 
he looks back to earth, and strongly as he retains his 
grasp upon it, there is no alternative ; he mnst pass on 
to the other world, he must face his eternal destiny. 
Surely it is an awful thing thus to die — surely it is a 
forcible saying: " The wicked is driven away in his 
wickedness." 

But it is not in this manner that the righteous de- 
part : on the contrary, they have hope in their death. 
Mark then the perfect man in this particular. See him 
as he approaches the end of his pilgrimage and becomes 
conscious that his days are few. Observe the blended 
seriousness and serenity with which he surveys the 
prospect before him, and contemplates the eternal real- 
ities to come. He is greatly impressed with the great- 
ness and importance of the change he must undergo, 
but there is no effort of the mind to exclude it from 
his thoughts, or to affect a philosophical indifference 
with regard to it. He considers it with immense and 
indescribable interest, but there is no fear, no trepida- 
tion, no agitation of spirit. His feelings are all com- 
posed ; he has a peace within, the world knoweth not 
of; a deep and substantial comfort on which he reposes 
with confidence and hope, and which the adversary 
can not supplant nor disturb. Instead of being driven 
away to meet his destiny, advancing toward it with a 
cheerless and compulsory step, he surrenders to the 
call of the messenger with unmoved placidness of 
mind, and departs with readiness and tranquillity. 
Hear him as he describes the ground of his hope and 
expresses the joy that inspires him: " My heart and 
my flesh faileth ; but God is the strength of my heart 



KIGHTEOUS AND WICKED. 101 

and my portion forever. Though I walk through the 
valley and shadow of death I will fear no evil ; for 
thou art with me, thy rod, and thy staff, they comfort 
me. I know that my Eedeemer liveth, and that he 
will stand at the latter day upon the earth ; and though 
after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh 
shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my 
eyes behold, and not another. I have fought a good 
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith ; 
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of right- 
eousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall 
give me in that day. To me to live is Christ, but to 
die is gain. death ! where is thy sting ? O grave ! 
where is thy victory ?" Thus he comes down to the 
dark and gloomy vale ; but with such thoughts and 
feelings it is no longer dark and gloomy to him. A 
supernatural light, the light of the Eedeemer's pre- 
sence, shines around him there, and its bright and 
quiet radiance illuminates his pathway, and guides and 
supports him through. Surely then this also is a true 
saying : " The righteous hath hope in his death." 

Were it necessary, we might dwell longer on this 
point, and consider more particularly what the hope is 
with which the righteous depart this life — the hope of 
immortality and eternal life. But this can not be im- 
portant to the object intended to be answered, which is 
to exhibit and impress upon you the distinction be- 
tween the righteous and the wicked, their distinction 
in character here and in the destiny to which they are 
hastening. To accomplish this object, I have brought 
forward the righteous into special contemplation, de- 
lineating their character and peaceful end, and leaving 



102 DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE 

the wicked, with incidental allusions, in the back- 
ground, to show off more strikingly the wide contrast 
in the two classes. Look at the picture as it has been 
drawn and presented, and for the end designed it is 
enough. The two classes are now before you. You 
see, on one hand, the whole world lying in wickedness, 
naturally inclined to evil, and all practically following 
evil, and sinning against God. You see the majority 
of them persisting in this state and course of life, and 
notwithstanding all that God has done for their salva- 
tion, refusing to repent and turn to him. But, on the 
other hand, you see some who have listened to the 
voice of mercy, have forsaken the ways of sin, and 
have returned in penitence and obedience to God. 
They are the few, who, believing upon Christ, have 
been chosen out of the world, have received a new 
character, and are the children of God and the heirs 
of heaven. Here they are, the one class on one side 
— a large and numerous and almost innumerable class 
— the other on the other side, a comparatively small 
and inconsiderable number. They are hastening on, 
with a loud and hurried tramp, to eternity — the many 
in the broad road to destruction, the few in the narrow 
way that leadeth to life. Soon they will come down to 
the river of death, and will pass over, the one with fear, 
the other with hope ; the one to a dark and dismal 
state of existence that shall never terminate, the other 
to a state of high and holy and immortal blessedness. 
Let me ask you to which of these classes do you be- 
long, and in which of these paths are you hurrying on 
to the world to come ? Are you travelling with the 
multitude, doing evil, or are you striving to enter in at 



RIGHTEOUS AND WICKED. 103 

the strait gate? Are you yet impenitent, or have 
you forsaken your evil ways and your unrighteous 
thoughts, and turned unto the Lord, and found mercy 
and pardon? This is no trivial, but a most momentous 
question. Its importance is as immense as eternity to 
you. It involves the choice between life and death, 
happiness and perdition, heaven and hell. It asks you 
solemnly, which you do chose? Will you go on, and 
love the world and lose your soul, or will you re- 
nounce the world, and take the Saviour for your por- 
tion? Will you press on with the wicked, and be 
driven away at last in your wickedness, or will you 
come over to the ranks of the righteous, and with 
them have hope in your death ? Let me entreat you 
to weigh seriously this question, and decide rightly in 
regard to it. And in doing this, let me earnestly warn 
the wicked to turn. If you are unconverted, you 
must repent or be lost. Come over, then, I beseech 
you, and forsake your sins. There is room on this 
side of the dividing line ; the way, though narrow, 
will hold you all. Then turn ye, turn ye, for why will 
you die ? Come, for all things are now ready ! Come, 
for though many have come, there yet is room ! 

" Ten thousand thousand more 
Are welcome still to come : 
Ye longing souls, the grace adore : 
Approach! — there yet is room." 



SERMON VI. 

SINNERS EXHORTED. 

" Seek ye the Lord while he may be found ; call ye upon him while 
he is near." Isaiah 55 : G. 

These words are addressed to a particular class of 
persons ; and who these persons are we learn from the 
verse that follows. There, in words immediately con- 
nected with the text, and designed indeed to explain 
and expand it, it is said : "Let the wicked forsake his 
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let 
him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." 
The wicked then, or the unrighteous, are the persons 
here addressed : to them it is said in these words of 
solemn and earnest exhortation : " Seek ye the Lord 
while he may be found ; call ye upon him while he is 
near." 

In occupying your time, my hearers, for awhile this 
evening, I desire, if possible, to impress upon your 
minds these words. Doubtless there are some here 
who belong to the class of persons addressed ; some 
who have not forsaken their wicked way, nor their 
unrighteous thoughts ; who, notwithstanding all that 
has been done for their salvation, are yet impenitent 
and unrenewed ; and who, therefore, have need of this 
exhortation. My simple desire is to reason with such 



SINNERS EXHORTED. 105 

for a few moments with regard to their state. I would 
bring them, if I can, to a point where they may see it 
as it is ; where, with suitable seriousness of thought 
and feeling, they may stand still and contemplate it ; 
where they may see how guilty they are, how truly 
miserable they are, how near to perdition they are, and 
yet what hope for a time remains in their case. In a 
word, I would persuade them to believe that now is 
the accepted time, and this the day of salvation. 

I. Let me then call your attention first, in urging 
this exhortation upon you, to the condition in which it 
regards the ungodly. It is a condition, you will per- 
ceive at once, of separation from Grod. This is the idea 
implied in the words, and without it they have no force 
nor propriety. And this separation, let it be observed, 
is not a physical or local separation, but one of a moral 
character, and therefore of the most important and fear- 
ful character. In one view, it would be impossible to 
conceive of such a thing as a local separation from Grod, 
seeing he is omnipresent, and always and everywhere 
with us ; and although, in another view, that is, in refer- 
ence to future abode and destiny, the conception be- 
comes real and truly awful, yet even here this is not 
the most momentous idea involved in this subject. It 
is the moral separation of man from God, the moral se- 
paration of the creature from the Creator, that after all 
gives to the condition of the ungodly its most painful 
and alarming aspect. 

And yet this is the very separation implied in the 
text; this is the very manner in which the state 
of the ungodly is here described. They are sepa- 
5* 



106 SINNERS EXHORTED. 

rated morally from the Glod who made them, and in 
whom they live and move and have their being. It 'is 
a separation including on the one hand the loss of 
Grod's favor and delight toward them, and on the other 
of their love and delight toward him. It is a separa- 
tion, too, including the loss on their part of all moral 
likeness to God, so that they are both guilty and de- 
praved in his sight. In his holy word we read that 
when He created man He made him in His own image 
and pronounced him very good. This implies that He 
delighted in him, and looked upon him with approval 
and complacency. Doubtless He thus delighted in him 
because he reflected His own holiness and perfect puri- 
ty, and so, resembling Him in moral character, was fitted 
to show forth His glory and the honor of His name. 
But now this state of things is reversed. A great and 
ruinous change has come upon our race, and now in 
our natural and unrenewed state we no longer reflect 
the image of Grod, and he no longer looks upon us 
with approbation. He is yet kind to us, it is true, 
bearing with us in our iniquity, and willing and anxi- 
ous to redeem us ; but yet he does not, and can not 
approve of us, he does not regard us with delight, he 
does not extend to us the comforts and securities of his 
favor. Though he is near to us and around us contin- 
ually, yet there is a wide, a dark, a dreadful distance 
between. 

Nor is this the only instance in which our condition 
as unregenerate sinners is described under this light in 
the Scriptures ; on the contrary, it is one of the most 
common methods of description here employed. " The 
Lord," it is said in one place, "looked down from hea- 



SINNEES EXHOETEL*. 107 

ven upon the children of men, to see if there were any 
that did understand and seek God." And as the result 
of this inspection, it is said that he found and declared, 
" The j are all gone aside, they are altogether become 
filthy, there is none that doeth good, no, not one." It is 
said too in Isaiah, in reference evidently to our unre- 
newed condition : "All we like sheep have gone astray ; 
we have turned, every one, to his own way." Again : 
"Behold, the Loed's hand is not shortened that it can not 
save, neither his ear heavy that it can not hear. But 
your iniquities have separated between you and your 
God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he 
will not hear you." And so too in the New Testa- 
ment is similar language made use of. The apostle 
Paul speaks in the same strain when, in reminding the 
Ephesians of their former condition, he tells them that 
they were " aliens" — " without God and without hope " 
— " afar off," but now " made nigh by the blood of 
Christ." The apostle Peter speaks in the same manner 
also, as when he declares : " Christ hath once suffered 
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us 
to God;" and again: "Ye were as sheep going astray, 
but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop 
of your souls." In these and similar passages the idea 
conveyed is that a wide moral separation exists be- 
tween men in an impenitent state, and God, so that we 
are alienated from him, and he as our sovereign is 
angry with us, and a reconciliation is necessary in 
order to our peace and safety. And what a condition 
is this for intelligent and accountable beings to occupy ! 
A creature estranged from his Creator ! — a man moral- 
ly severed from God ! What a spectacle for angels 



108 SINNERS EXHORTED. 

and the whole intelligent universe to behold ! What 
a catastrophe to be lamented ! What a ruin to be 
wept over ! Would that you might consider it as it is ! 
Would that you might feel, if you have never repented 
and returned to God, that this is your condition, and 
that it is high time for you to awake from your uncon- 
cern, and seriously to attend to the question : " What 
must I do to be saved?" 

II. The next thing now to which I would call your 
attention in this exhortation, is the kind and earnest 
counsel that it gives you. Kegardmg you in this state, 
wandering from God and exposed to certain destruc- 
tion, it calls aloud upon you and says: " Seek ye the 
Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while 
he is near." No address could better suit your condi- 
tion ; no counsel, no advice, no entreaty, could be more 
appropriate to your circumstances. You are straying 
from God ; it says to you, Seek him. You are perish- 
ing; it says to you, Call upon him while he is near. 

But what does this seeking the Lord imply ? What 
is it that the exhortation thus counsels us to do ? 

We must all perceive, I think, that the words imply 
something more than merely to furnish ourselves with 
a knowledge of God's character. This we may pos- 
sess, at least to a considerable extent, and yet remain 
in the same moral state, and consequently exposed to 
the same dreadful end. Important and indispensable 
as is this knowledge, it does not of itself renew our na- 
ture, or bring us morally any nearer to God. We may 
have this in a measure, and many do have it, and re- 
main unchanged, unpardoned, and unsaved. Some 



SINNEES EXHOETED. 109 

higher and more intimate knowledge then is called for ; 
some more spiritual knowledge ; something that not 
only enlightens the understanding, but transforms and 
sanctifies the heart ; something that reaches the moral 
feelings, and makes us in this respect new creatures ; 
that takes hold of us in our alienation and sin, and re- 
stores us in love and obedience to God. And if I 
mistake not, it is to such an apprehension of God that 
the apostle refers when in one of his epistles he uses 
this language : " And hereby we know that we know 
him, if we keep his commandments ; he that saith, I 
know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a 
liar, and the truth is not in him : but whoso keepeth 
his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected ; 
hereby we know that we know him." It is something 
more then than an intellectual apprehension of God ; 
something more than a merely theoretical knowledge 
of his character and perfections ; something higher and 
beyond this, something more spiritual and experimental, 
something that renews the heart and controls the life 
of the man, and " turns him to the wisdom of the just." 
And what it is precisely — the idea immediately in- 
volved in the words — the prophet has clearly deve- 
loped in the verse following, and already alluded to. 
There to seek the Lord is to return to him. Now you 
are afar off. You have wandered from him like lost 
sheep ; you have withdrawn from his protection and 
care ; you have thrown off his authority and said that 
you would not have him to reign over you ; you are 
guilty, condemned, and exposed to everlasting banish- 
ment from heaven ; and now the exhortation to you is, 
return. If you see your misery, and are conscious that 



110 SINNEES EXHOETED. 

you have done wrong, and desire to be saved, then 
come back ; come bach to the Shepherd and Bishop of 
your soul ; return to him and he will have mercy upon 
you, submit to him and he will abundantly pardon. 

But what does the prophet mean in those words : 
" Eeturn unto the Lord ?" The verse reads, you will 
recollect : " Let the wicked forsake his way, and the 
unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto 
the Lord." Now, to return unto the Lord implies ob- 
viously the abandonment of sin. No man can return 
and yet hold on to his wicked ways. All his evil 
practices and pursuits ; all his sinful plans and pur- 
poses ; all his unholy desires and inclinations, must be 
given up, or he can never come back to God. These 
are the things that have led him away from God : these 
are the things that have separated so far between him 
and his Maker; and so long as he clings to these 
things, and holds on in these ways, so long will he re- 
main away from him. There is no other way, no other 
hope, than immediately to renounce all, and if the sin- 
ner will not do this he can not be saved. To return, 
you must come out from the world and be separate 
from it ; you must detach yourself from the love and 
service of sin ; and you must join yourself in a penitent 
and obedient spirit to the Lord. You must turn right 
around in your course, bow at once in subjection to 
Grod, and seeking pardon and a new heart, restore 
yourself to his lost favor and image. 

But how, you may perhaps inquire, can this be done? 
How may a sinner so return to God as to be accepted ? 
How may he obtain grace to forsake his wicked way ; 
and how, should he do this, may he find pardon and 



SINNEES EXHOKTED. Ill 

favor ? Is it possible for a guilty and unholy man to 
come back over all this intervening distance, and these 
barriers, and these alienations of heart on his part, and 
these claims of justice on the part of Grod, and be re- 
conciled and received? Is there a possible way in 
which this may be done ? I answer, that there is a 
way in which every sinner may thus return to the 
Lord, and that this way is fully unfolded by the 
prophet. He is speaking in this chapter, and not 
only here, but through all this part of his prophecy, 
from the last three verses of the fifty-second chap- 
ter to the close, of the work and mediation of Christ. 
He declares the certainty of his coming, the atone- 
ment he should make for sin, and the purpose of 
God to accept of those who come unto him through 
Christ. He speaks directly on this glorious theme in 
the chapter before us, and illustrates the greatness of 
divine mercy in the fullest and most glowing manner. 
How striking are his words in the very first verse of 
the chapter : " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to 
the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy, 
and eat ; yea, come buy wine and milk, without money 
and without price." Equally striking, too, are his 
words in the text and verse following. Here, though 
men have wandered far from Grod, and have become 
wicked in their ways and unrighteous in their thoughts, 
they are exhorted to seek him and return, and are as- 
sured, if they do so, that he will have mercy upon them 
and pardon them. So abundant are the provisions of 
his grace, that all are permitted to come, and that all 
who come shall be saved. And now, if the prophet 
has his eye on the mediation of Christ, and if in con- 



112 SINNERS EXHORTED. 

sideration of this he exhorts the wicked to repent with 
the assurance of acceptance, we see clearly enough how 
sinful man may return to God. A new and living 
way has been opened for us, and now every sinner, 
no matter how far off he may be, may draw nigh with 
full confidence and hope. None need despair. Christ 
is the way, the truth, and the life, to every fallen crea- 
ture of our race. We may approach in his name, for 
it is sufficient, and we may trust in his merits, for we 
shall not be rejected. 

But there is another point which you should not 
overlook here, which is the way in which Grod is to be 
sought, or by which we are to come to him through 
Christ. This way is suggested in the text, in the words : 
" Call ye upon him while he is near." Grod, then, is to 
be sought in prayer. This is the proper way, and we 
may be assured that it is the only way in which guilty 
and condemned sinners can return to him. They must 
call upon him. They must cry to him for mercy. 
Approaching in the name of Christ, and relying alone 
on his merits, they must humble themselves and ear- 
nestly plead for pardon. They must have a broken 
and a contrite spirit, and, feeling that they are ruined 
and perishing, they must call aloud for help. The 
language of their heart must be : " Have mercy upon 
me, Grod ! have mercy upon me : for I acknowledge 
my sin, and my transgression is ever before me. For 
thy name sake, O Lord ! pardon my iniquity, for it is 
great." And those who thus pray shall be heard. Grod 
has directly and specially promised it. " Whosoever 
calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." 
"Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, 






SINNEES EXHOETED. 113 

knock and it shall be opened unto you." " Draw nigh 
unto Grod and he will draw nigh unto you." Come, 
then, I am authorized to say to every straying, perish- 
ing soul to whom my voice can extend — come, and in 
prayer seek your offended Grod ; and so sure as you 
come, he will receive you. He is ready and waiting 
now. He has prepared the way of return; he has 
given his Son, who has made a full and sufficient pro- 
pitiation for the sins of the world; and now you have 
only to come humbly and penitently before him, and 
ask for pardon and acceptance, and salvation is yours. 
Let me, then, entreat you, in words of admonition and 
encouragement, to seek the Lord while he may be 
found, and to call upon him while he is near. 

III. But this leads to another thought in connection 
with this exhortation, that I desire you to notice. You 
see the condition in which it regards you, and the im- 
portant counsel it gives you ; mark, now, the consider- 
ations that should induce you to take this counsel and 
follow it. These considerations are of the most solemn 
and impressive character; let us observe them well, 
and open our hearts to their influence and power. You 
gain nothing by refusing to think seriously on a sub- 
ject of such magnitude and immense interest as this, 
and therefore I beseech you to pause and consider for 
a few moments the motives you have immediately to 
seek God. 

And first you are exhorted to seek him, and to do it 
now, from the certainty of success. The expressions, 
"while he maybe found," and "while he is near," 
imply, surely, that there is now hope ; that if you seek 



114 SINNEES EXHOETED. 

you shall find ; that if you call he will answer you. 
Look at this fact for a moment. 

The human mind is so constituted, that it is impos- 
sible for us earnestly to seek after any object that we 
know is unattainable. Even a doubt in regard to it is 
found to weaken and discourage our efforts. When, 
however, this doubt gathers in vigor, and we are made 
sure that, do what we will, the object can never be 
reached, then we find it impossible to put forth any 
effort toward it. But when, on the other hand, the 
object is not only possible, but, upon ascertained con- 
ditions, certain to all who desire it ; when we see that 
its attainment is not only possible, but that it is certain 
to fall as a reward to efforts appropriately directed to- 
ward it, then we can seek it, and do so with energy, 
and earnestness, and perseverance. The thought that 
it can be gained, if it is an object of worth and import- 
ance, stimulates and encourages us to aim and labor 
for it. 

"Well, now, this is one of the considerations suggested 
here that should induce you to seek the Lord. The 
object in view is nothing less than your future and 
everlasting well-being — the salvation of your soul; and 
this object you are assured is both possible and certain 
if you address yourself to it. The phrases in the text 
to which we have referred, are the same as if they de- 
clared, Now the Lord is waiting to be gracious : he is 
near, and will hear you as soon as you call. Your first 
accents of prayer will enter directly into his ears, and 
call forth the tender compassion of his heart. He is 
is also perfectly accessible, and so soon as you turn to 
him he will meet and receive you. Turn you, turn 



SINNERS EXHORTED. 115 

you, for why will you die? Forsake your wicked way 
and your unrighteous thoughts, and come now to his 
arms, for he will abundantly pardon. And what a 
blessed consideration is this ! How cheering and com- 
forting ! What an incentive to effort, particularly to 
the serious and penitent ! Let it encourage and strength- 
en such, and let it also arouse and awaken the careless 
and unconcerned. 

But there is another consideration that more imme- 
diately concerns the latter class of unconverted per- 
sons, and which they should seriously ponder. It is 
the certainty of final rejection if they do not seek God 
soon. These phrases, " while He may be found," and 
" while He is near," imply also that the time is coming 
when he will not be found, and when he will be no 
longer near. They imply that he will not always wait 
as he is now waiting ; that he will not be always as 
ready as he is to hear your prayers, and receive you to 
his mercy and favor. By and by he will cease to wait, 
and will turn as it were away from you. He will call 
on you to repent no longer ; he will offer you pardon 
and acceptance no longer ; he will give you up to the 
iearfulness of the ruin into which you have rushed so 
wickedly. And what a solemn, thrilling consideration 
is this to induce you to return to God. He assures 
you that he desires you to return and will most cer- 
tainly receive you ; but he assures you that after a 
time circumstances will gravely change, and that then 
he will wait no further. Now he is accessible and may 
be found ; but soon he will turn away, and hide him- 
self in judgment, and leave you to the sad and bitter 
lamentation: "Oh! that I knew where I might find 



116 SINNERS EXHORTED. 

Him." Now his favor is attainable, and every one of 
you may come and avail yourselves of it ; but soon it 
will be promised and proffered no longer, and, having 
despised it for the sake of worldly pleasure, you will 
not find it, though you seek it carefully with tears. 
Now his compassion lingers around you, shielding, 
watching, and weeping over you ; but soon, repulsed, 
contemned, and abused, it will take its unwilling flight, 
and leave you exposed to the terrible destruction to 
which you are hastening. Now he bears long with 
you, overlooking your neglects and ungrateful rejec- 
tions of his grace, ready, notwithstanding all, to receive 
you openly to his arms ; but soon he will bring your 
probation to its close, and, rising up in his majesty, de- 
clare in his wrath that you shall not enter into his rest. 
How solemn and thrilling then, I repeat it, is this con- 
sideration ! And how solemnly and thrillingly do the 
Scriptures at times urge it upon our attention ! Not 
always by implication, as in the text, but repeatedly in 
the most direct and glowing language. " The wicked," 
it is said in one place, " shall be turned into hell, with 
all the nations that forget Grod." Again: " The Lord 
trieth the righteous ; but the wicked and him that loveth 
violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall 
rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and an horrible tem- 
pest, this shall be the portion of their cup." And how 
affectionately, and with what powerful pathos, did the 
dying king of Israel employ this motive in recommend- 
ing to his son, who was about to succeed him, a life of 
piety and godliness: "And thou, Solomon, my son, 
know thou the Grod of thy father ; and serve him with 
a perfect heart, and with a willing mind : for the Lord 



SINNERS EXHOBTED. 117 

searcheth. all hearts, and understandeth all imaginations 
of the thoughts : if thou seek him, he will be found of 
thee ; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for every 
And then whose attention has not been arrested, and 
■whose feelings have not been stirred, by those remark- 
able words, uttered as the voice of wisdom, but in fact 
the voice of Grod: "Because I have called and ye 
refused ; I have stretched out my hand, and no man 
regarded ; but ye have set at naught my counsel, and 
would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your 
calamity : I will mock when your fear cometh — when 
your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction 
cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish 
cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but 
I will not answer ; they shall seek me early, but shall 
not find me." 

Here then are the considerations with which you 
are exhorted to seek the Lord. The first is the cer- 
tainty of success, the other the certainty of rejection. 
The one is, that if you seek him he will be found of you ; 
the other is, that if you forsake him he will cast you off 
forever. Can I say any thing more ? If these consid- 
erations are not sufficient to move you, what will move 
you f Here you see both the goodness and the severity 
of Grod : his goodness, vast, rich, completely immeas- 
urable; his severity, arising from his purity, sove 
reignty, and rectitude, and harmonizing with his infi- 
nite benevolence. Is not all this enough to stir your 
careless heart ? Can you need any thing further ? If 
you do, I can say nothing better than to entreat you to 
get down on your knees and cry to Grod for help. Cry 
mightily for his spirit ; cry for his convicting grace ; 



118 SINNERS EXHORTED. 

cry for feeling ; cry for a mind to perceive and a heart 
to realize how near you are to everlasting death. Oh ! 
it is a dreadful thing to have a heart that will not feel ! 
Let your prayer therefore go up to God for help, for 
this is your only hope and means of deliverance. Let 
your language be : 

"With softening pity look, 

And melt my hardness down ; 
And break my heart of stone." 
Strike with thy love's resistless stroke, 



SERMON VII. 

ON PENITENCE. 

" But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a con- 
trite spirit, and trembleth at my word." Isaiah 66 : 2. 

As all men are sinners, and all are dependent upon 
the mere j of Grod for salvation, it is certainly of infinite 
moment to ascertain the ground or conditions on which 
this mercy is imparted. And it is a consideration of 
great and peculiar interest to many that this ground 
has nothing to do whatever with our outward or tem- 
poral circumstances. These circumstances may be in 
every respect humble and disadvantageous; yet he 
will not on this account disregard us. Or they may 
be all that we can desire, giving us station, and influ- 
ence, and all the comforts and luxuries of life ; yet he 
will not on this account accept of us, or delight in us. 
Unless the heart is in a condition suitable and pleasing 
in his sight, he will not, because of worldly superiority, 
dispense to us his saving grace. Eiches, honor, and 
high living avail nothing in the least with him. On 
such considerations he bestows salvation upon none. 
With all these things at your command you may live 
without him, that is, without his favor, in this world ; 
and then dying and leaving these things, you may go 
and live without him through all the interminableness 
of the world to come. Men attach an importance to 



120 ON PENITENCE. 

such, circumstances, but he does not. He looketh not, 
he has himself declared, at the outward appearance, 
but at the heart. He seeth not as man seeth, he judg- 
eth not as man judgeth. 

But what is that state of heart so becoming in his 
estimation, and so requisite to obtain his mercy ? To 
this inquiry, so truly and immensely interesting, we 
have an answer, plainly furnished, in the text. It is 
the state here mentioned and described; a state of 
spiritual lowliness and debasement ; a state of sincere 
and earnest penitence. " But to this man will I look ;" 
as if he had said to him and none other — to none other, 
yet to him surely ; " to this man will I look, even to 
him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that 
trembleth at my word." 

The subject to which these remarks lead us, and 
which they bring out from the text, is, the necessity 
and fitness of penitence as the only way to the favor 
of Grod : not, let it be observed, his general favor, in 
which all men, for the time being, have in some way 
a share, but his special and spiritual favor — that which 
is connected with our salvation, and which indeed con- 
stitutes our salvation. 

And this is a subject, surely, worthy our attention 
It is so at all times and in all places ; but it is particu- 
larly so at the present time in this place, when the 
Holy Spirit is at work upon the hearts of some of you, 
and when the inquiry is heard in our midst : " "What 
must I do to be saved ?" It is particularly worthy 
attention at this time, also, from the fact that while 
some are yielding to the strivings of the Spirit, others 
are resisting ; that while some are anxious and thought- 



ON PENITENCE. 121 

ful, others are heedless and scornful, and are flattering 
themselves in their own eyes. The state referred to in 
the text they affect to despise ; they see in it nothing 
desirable or necessary ; they even make light of it, 
and yet expect to be saved. With a view to benefit 
both of these classes, to encourage and comfort the one, 
and to undeceive and admonish the other, I may with 
obvious appropriateness present this subject before 
you ; and I pray that the spirit of love and of truth 
may be eminently near to assist and bless us in our 
meditations. 

I. What then — in order so to consider the subject 
as to accomplish our design — what, let us inquire in 
the first place, is penitence ? In attending to this in- 
quiry we shall find ourselves supplied in the text with 
full and relevant instruction. A penitent, so to speak, 
is here brought before us. He is described; so far as 
character can be embodied in words, fully and minutely, 
and we see him as it were in person, in living reality. 
The phraseology of the text, too, is exceedingly sig- 
nificant and touching ; representing the penitent as a 
man poor, of a contrite spirit, and trembling at the 
word of God. If now we can raise our minds to a 
proper conception of all this ; if we can reach in its 
extent and spirituality the import of these phrases ; if 
we can understand what it is to be poor, and contrite, 
and to tremble at the word of God, then we shall see 
in its true sense what it is to be penitent ; and what 
God requires of us that we may receive his mercy. 

First then the penitent is one who is poor. I need 
not remark, of course, that this is to be understood 
6 



122 ON PENITENCE. 

spiritually and not temporally ; that it is not to out- 
ward circumstances, but to the inward state of the feel- 
ings that allusion is here made. It is true indeed that 
the poor are generally more ready than the rich to 
humble themselves before God, and to receive salva- 
tion ; but such is not the case invariably ; for often the 
former will continue and persist in sin, with their hearts 
unsubdued and unhumblecl, while the latter turn away 
from their rebellion, and bow in contrition before God. 
Thus furnishing a proof of what has already been 
stated : that salvation is conditioned on no external cir- 
cumstances, but that all, the rich and the poor, neither 
having an advantage over the other, must prostrate 
themselves before the Most High, and become alike poor 
in a spiritual sense before they can be accepted of him. 
But what does this poverty imply ? We see that it 
relates to the state of the heart ; that it is the poverty 
felt by the psalmist when he said, "I am poor and 
needy, and my heart is wounded within me ;" and that 
referred to by Christ when he declared, "Blessed are 
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God ;" 
but then what is it, and what is the state of mind indi- 
cated by it ? Should we attempt directly to define it, 
perhaps we could not better express ourselves than to 
say, It is a true and thorough conviction of sin, with 
a deep and soul-prostrating humiliation on account of 
it. Of him that is so affected it may be correctly said 
that he is poor ; but of no one else can this be said 
with the least propriety. Without this conviction and 
humiliation the heart is yet rebellious ; it is still lifted 
up against the Almighty, and with a firm and stubborn 
wickedness continues its hostility to him. 



ON PENITENCE. 123 

But what is this conviction of sin ? I need not ob- 
serve, in defining this, that it is a consciousness press- 
ing heavily upon the penitent's mind, assuring him that 
he is a sinner, personally guilty and condemned before 
Grod, and justly in danger of everlasting punishment. 
It implies that he both knows and feels that such is his 
condition ; not only knows, but feels also. And here 
is a point, if I mistake not, on which we are liable to 
misapprehension, and in regard to which misappre- 
hension may prove serious. Let it not be supposed 
then that because you know, and are willing to admit 
that you are a sinner, that you are therefore convicted, 
and consequently poor in the sense of the text. Know- 
ledge here is not enough. It is enough to begin with, 
enough to arouse you, and lead you to reflection ; but 
then if you stop here, if you will not reflect here, and 
begin to pray and reform, you can not be truly said 
to be awakened, but are yet in the gall of bitterness and 
under the bonds of iniquity. Feeling on this subject 
is equally requisite. Connected with this intellectual 
acquaintance with your condition there must be emo- 
tion and lively concern, for in this matter conviction 
relates as much to the sensibilities as to the understand- 
ing. 

Let us notice this point a little further. How many 
do you suppose among the unconverted who hear me 
at this time are really convicted ? How many will go 
home to pray, to weep, and to mend their lives ? Yet 
all of them know that they are sinners. Speak to them 
on the subject and you will find in them no disposition 
to dispute it : on the contrary, they will allow it without 
hesitation or repugnance. Yes, they will tell you, we 



124 ON PENITENCE. 

are all sinners, and have need to repent ; and they will 
go further and tell you that they intend at some future 
time to arouse themselves and give their attention to 
this duty ; but then you will see in them no anxious 
concern, no emotion, no just sense of their danger. On 
the other hand they will refer you to this very circum- 
stance, their present insensibility, as an excuse for 
refusing to repent just now: yes, and they will go 
away from this house to-night, and notwithstanding all 
the appeals that are made to them, they will lay them- 
selves down , and sleep as quietly as if it were merely 
the suggestion of fancy that before morning they may 
wake up in hell. And why is this ? The explanation 
is, that though they know, they will not consider; 
though they are advised of their danger, they will not 
look after it ; though they are acquainted with their 
state, they have no feeling in regard to it. And thus 
they are far off from conviction. They are yet indif- 
ferent and rebellious, not poor like the penitent, but at 
ease in the pride of their hearts. 

But humiliation we said is also included in the pov- 
erty here ascribed to the penitent. It follows and 
blends with his conviction that he is a sinner ; and this 
it does invariably when conviction is genuine. The 
man who fully knows and feels how wicked and guilty 
he is, and who gives up to the influence thereby ex- 
erted upon his mind, will be humble and will get down 
in the dust before God. The language of his heart 
will be: " Behold I am vile, what shall I answer thee ? 
I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Wherefore I 
abhor myself; I repent in dust and ashes." And did 
you ever see such a man, my hearers? Yes, you 



ON PENITENCE. 125 

have : you have seen many such of late in this place : 
you have seen them in this house, and some of you in 
the circle of your own families. And perhaps you 
have thought strange of so sudden a transformation. 
Perhaps you have wondered how men of strength and 
standing; how young people bent only on pleasure and 
vanity ; and how the old, venerable in appearance and 
firmly established in habit, have been brought down to 
such abasement of soul, and to such a sense of un wor- 
thiness, and of nothingness, in the presence of Grod. 
But though you may wonder do not chide them. It 
is right, it is becoming, it is just as it should be. If it 
is your friend, your brother, your sister, nay your own 
child, say not a word in ridicule or discouragement. 
Glod would have them humble. This self-renunciation, 
this lowliness, this poverty of spirit is pleasing in his 
sight, and if you speak against it you exalt yourself 
against him. With such, he says, he will dwell : he 
will look upon them and receive them. 

But I pass to observe that the penitent is one who 
is also contrite; that is, according to the literal signifi- 
cation of the term, broken and bruised. And how ex- 
pressive, in this connection, is this term ! The spirit 
of the true penitent is indeed broken : it is bruised and 
crushed within him, borne down with a heavy load of 
grief. Being poor in the sense described, convicted 
and humble, this grief naturally ensues. It gushes up 
from the deep springs of his soul, and overflows it 
completely with sorrow and distress. It is true, it is 
not in every case equally intense, yet it is always strong 
and subduing. In persons of slow temperament, as 
well as in persons who have studiously schooled their 



126 ON PENITENCE. 

feelings, and fortified themselves against excitement, 
there may be no sudden, overwhelming emotion ; but 
even in their case, where there is a deep sense of sin, 
there will be, if it is yielded to, deep sorrow on account 
of it. And there can be no penitence without it. In 
itself the word penitence implies sorrow : it is a pain 
for sin ; a pain of soul, consisting in a consciousness 
of guilt, and impelling the subject to a sincere hatred 
and total abandonment of his sinful ways. 

And let me remind you, in speaking on this point, 
that the sorrow of the penitent, referring to sin as its 
object, does not regard it so much in its consequences 
as in its character. In other words, it is sin itself, and 
not the punishment of sin, that excites his grief. But, 
in this remark, let me not be misunderstood. I do not 
mean to say, that the punishment to follow sin has no 
influence whatever on the mind of the penitent, for this 
would not be true to fact ; but then it is an influence 
awakening fear rather than sorrow, an influence caus- 
ing him to tremble rather than to weep. He would 
feel the same grief if he knew nothing of the punish- 
ment of sin at all, provided he had the same deep con- 
viction of its criminality and guilt. As it is, the 
knowledge he has that punishment does indeed await 
him, tends doubtless to arrest him in his course, and 
bring him to penitence ; but then, the sorrow that fills 
his heart respects sin in its criminal above its penal 
character. It regards it as an offense against Grod ; it 
is a bitter and heart-piercing regret for having violated 
his law, holy, just, and good ; it is an overwhelming 
sense of ingratitude and wickedness, so tender and 
softening, that it breaks down all the obduracy of the 



ON PENITENCE. 127 

soul, and opens upon it a flood of deep and sincere 
tenderness. 

And if I do not misunderstand the Scriptures, this is 
the kind of sorrow they imply in penitence. It is cer- 
tainly the kind David felt when he exclaimed: "Against 
thee, thee only, haye I sinned, and done this evil in thy 
sight." It is the kind, too, so affectingly described by 
Christ in the parable of the prodigal son. Here the 
prodigal, representing in his repentance the return of 
the sinner to Grod, says: "Father, I have sinned against 
heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be 
called thy son." And it is the kind referred to by the 
apostle, when he uses the phrases, " a godly sorrow," 
"a sorrow unto repentance," "a sorrowing after a godly 
sort." 

And it is just here, too, allow me to say further, that 
we may distinguish a true from a spurious or superficial 
penitence. In the latter, as well as in the former, there 
may be sorrow, or a state of mind to which the subject 
will apply this term ; but it is a different sorrow alto- 
gether, originating from a fear of consequences. Could 
the individual get rid of this fear ; could he really believe 
that there are no evil consequences to follow his sins 
in the world to come ; could he persuade himself that, 
do what he will, all will be well in the future, then his 
sorrow would immediately abate, and he would go on 
in his course with as light a heart as ever. On the 
other hand, as has been observed already, this would 
make no difference with the true penitent. His is a 
godly sorrow. It is such that he hates sin and mourns 
over it, because it is sin; and it leads him to turn away 
from it with sad and unutterable remorse. He would 



128 ON PENITENCE. 

not, if he could, enjoy it: though assured that he 
might do it with impunity, he would not yield it his 
affections, nor surrender himself to its power another 
day. His greatest concern is, how he may obtain a 
deliverance from it. The language of his inmost soul 
is: u O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me 
from this body of death?" 

But another thought connected with this, and which 
it will be proper to refer to here, is, that the sorrow of 
the penitent not only regards sin in its character, but 
regards its character in the twofold aspect of it : its re- 
lation, that is, both to the heart and life. You are per- 
fectly aware that sin exists among men in each of these 
forms. There are heart-sins, such as covetousness, and 
pride, and worldliness, and anger, all originating from 
a natural bias to do evil ; and there are outward sins, 
such as manifest themselves in our words and deeds, 
and our general deportment. The true penitent is con- 
scious of his guilt and depravity in both of these re- 
spects. He sees that his life has been one continued 
scene of transgression, and that his heart is vile, deceit- 
ful above all things, and desperately wicked. He sees 
that there is within him enmity to Grod ; and that this 
enmity has kept pace with the increasing iniquities of 
his life. "There dwelleth in me," he finds himself 
compelled to acknowledge, "no good thing." And it 
is for sin as thus existing in him, as well as for sin as 
developing itself in his every-day deportment, that the 
penitent is contrite. It is the enmity of his heart to 
God, as well as his outward disobedience, that makes 
him sad. It is for his want of spirituality, and grati- 
tude, and love, and reverence, as well as for his idle 



ON PENITENCE. 129 

words, and acts of violation of the divine law, that he 
mourns. And in his prayer for acceptance, he has re- 
gard to these sins without discrimination, confessing 
and lamenting the whole. His petition is: "Have 
mercy upon me, O God ! according to thy loving-kind- 
ness : according to the multitude of thy tender mercies 
blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly 
from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For 
I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever 
before me." And still further: "Hide thy face from 
my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create within 
me a clean heart, God! and renew a right spirit 
within me." And when his prayer is answered, and 
the deliverance he seeks is obtained, he feels that he is 
at once forgiven and renewed ; that his transgressions 
are indeed blotted out, and a new heart created within 
him; that being justified by faith, he has peace with 
God through our Lord Jesus Christ ; and that being 
thus in Christ, he is a new creature, old things have 
passed away — his guilt and his wicked heart — and all 
things have become new. 

But there is one other point in the character of the 
penitent, brought to view in the text, which we must 
not overlook. Not only is he poor and contrite, but 
he also trembles at the word of God. . This is as truly a 
part of penitence as either of the states of mind just 
referred to. It results, too, like contrition, from the 
first state ; for who can be poor in the sense explained, 
who can know and feel his sinful condition, and be 
properly humbled on account of it, without trem- 
bling, or becoming anxious and alarmed before God ? 
And here we see the legitimate effect of the penal 
G* 



130 ON PENITENCE. 

character of sin on the mind of the penitent. It does 
not, we have said, produce contrition ; at least, it is not 
to sin in this view that the contrition of the penitent 
refers ; but yet it has an effect after all, and that effect 
is fearfulness and a spirit of dread. While he sorrows 
for sin as he contemplates its criminality, he trembles 
for it as he contemplates its tremendous issues. 

And we may be assured that it is not a superstitious 
and unnecessary feeling that he now experiences : on 
the contrary, there is cause for trembling. And when 
you remember that it is the word of God at which 
he trembles, and which creates his alarm, you will at 
once admit this. You will admit that he has the best 
reason in the world for being agitated and disturbed. 

In the first place, he now sees the character of God, 
for the first time in his life, in its true and majestic 
light. Before this he believed that there is a God, and 
he never doubted his dependence upon him, and his 
accountableness to him. To some extent, too, he un- 
derstood his character. He knew that he is holy, just, 
and good ; and he knew that he is everywhere present, 
beholding the evil and the good. But his views, after 
all, were exceedingly vague and indefinite. Though 
correct as far as they extended, they were too limited ; 
and made on the mind too faint an impression to con- 
stitute a proper conception of the divine character. 
But how different is it now ! How far more elevated 
are his notions of the perfections of his Maker ! His 
holiness, justice, and truth ; his omnipresence, omnisci- 
ence, and power ; every attribute, indeed, of his charac- 
ter, both natural and moral, how differently does he 
view them all ! And what an impression, too, has he 



ON PENITENCE. 131 

of the divine sovereignty ! How he shrinks into the 
dust before it ! How overpowering is his sense of his 
own insignificance in competition with it ! Well, then, 
may he tremble ! Well may he fear, seeing he is a 
transgressor, as the august character of his offended 
Judge thus rises in full view before him ! Well may 
he exclaim, in the language of the patriarch of old : 
" When I consider I am afraid of thee." 

But this is not all. He sees now, for the first time 
also, the number and greatness of his offenses. Before 
this, he went on adding crime to crime, and neglecting 
duty after duty, without reflection or concern. He 
never stopped seriously to inquire, What am I doing ? 
and what will be the result of my course ? but, without 
any regard to the long, dark account which he was 
daily running up against himself, he rushed on in his 
wicked career, thinking and caring but little. But it 
is differently with him now. He has paused and is 
thinking, and his thoughts disturb him. His sins 
now appear to him as mountains. They look black 
and dismal, too, like a cloud surcharged with wrath, 
and foreboding nothing but terror and destruction. 
And there is nothing to relieve his fears as they pass 
in review before him. He has no excuse to fall back 
on, no plea whatever to make. He can only say: "I 
have wilfully sinned, I am desperately vile." He can 
not say: "I did it ignorantly and unintentionally; I 
thought I was right, and in pursuit of lawful ends ; my 
purpose was good, and my motives correct;" no, he 
can say nothing like this. He knows that he acted 
advisedly and without constraint. He knows he was 
well aware what he was doing ; and if at first he did 



132 ON PENITENCE. 

not see the wickedness and consequences of his course, 
he knows it was because he closed his eyes, shut out 
the light, and would not consider. And so, again, 
there is reason that he should tremble. Eecollecting 
what sin is, and how offensive and hateful it is in the 
sight of God ; and recollecting that all his life- time he 
has been committing sins, so that they are more than 
the hairs of his head, and can not be named nor num- 
bered, he must be alarmed, he must dread the future, 
his soul within him must tremble. 

But there is another reason still, one suggested by 
the preceding, why he should tremble. He sees now, 
also, as he never saw it before, the nearness of his ex- 
posure to the wrath of God. He had been repeatedly 
admonished that the wages of sin is death, and that 
every day he lives in impenitence he is treasuring up 
wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the 
righteous judgment of God ; but it always sounded to 
him as an idle tale. He regarded it as so much fanati- 
cism, or at least as an exaggeration worthy only of his con- 
tempt. " All will be well," was ever his motto, and with 
this opiate to his conscience, he persisted in his course, 
and cared for nothing. But he has found out at length, 
that in rejecting what he regarded the delusion of 
others, he has deluded himself with an appalling, a 
ruining infatuation. He sees now that there is mean- 
ing to the word of God ; that its threatenings are seri- 
ous and in earnest ; that the wrath it speaks of means 
wrath, the wrath of a righteous and sin-avenging God. 
He sees, too, that there is but a step between him and 
this doom ; that he is standing, as it were, upon the 
very brink of the precipice ; and that, in a short time, 



ON PENITENCE. 133 

he shall know for himself how fearful a thing it is to 
fall in the hands of the living Grod. And how, then, 
with his feet thus consciously taking hold on death, 
can he resist this trembling ? Imagine to yourself some 
pleasure-seeker, pursuing his way in the dark : he con- 
siders himself in some pleasant and inviting path, and 
on he goes thoughtlessly and joyously. But suddenly 
some light breaks upon him, and in an instant he finds 
that he is standing upon the very verge of a deep, 
dark, dismal abyss, just raising his foot for the next, 
the final and fatal step. With what horror and con- 
sternation would such an one start back, and what 
trembling would seize and overpower him as he sur- 
veyed his danger. So is it, more or less, with the 
awakened sinner. He has been seeking pleasure all 
his days, and he thought that his path was safe. But 
he has been in the dark. Every step has brought him 
nearer to destruction ; nay, being every moment liable 
to die, he has been every moment on the brink of 
the precipice. But the light of conviction has at last 
forced an opening into his mind, and he sees that he is 
standing exposed to the most fearful peril, and that just 
one step more, and he may take the dreadful plunge. 
And therefore he trembles at the word of God. He 
flies back from the edge of the pit, and with his mind 
all awake to the hazard of his condition, he cries to the 
Lord, and penitently prays for deliverance. 

II. But we must pause on this part of our subject, 
not having time, however useful it may be, to add any 
further reflections. Having obtained, however, from 
the full and life-like representation of the text, a pretty 



134 ON PENITENCE. 

clear and precise idea of what penitence is, we are pre- 
pared now to consider for a few moments its necessary 
and certain connection with the favor of God. It is 
the only way, and yet a sure way, according to the 
teaching of the text, to his saving mercy : so that, if 
we return to the Lord, he will return to us ; but if we 
repent not, we shall all likewise perish. 

That penitence is indeed thus connected with our 
salvation, will not of course be questioned; all who 
read and have acquainted themselves with the Scrip- 
tures understand and admit it. But then, it may not 
be so well understood why this connection is necessary ; 
why it is requisite to repent in order to be saved ; why, 
without this, no man may hope to be accepted and ap- 
proved. Some, doubtless, are ready to inquire, Why 
must we pass through this trying scene ? Why, espe- 
cially, must the high and noble ; and more especially 
still, why must the moral, and kind, and amiable, all 
humble themselves in this manner, and acknowledge 
their sinfulness ? In illustration of this point, I have 
two plain and very obvious considerations to present ; 
and if you will attend to these considerations for a mo- 
ment, you will perceive clearly, I think, why peni- 
tence is so essential to our salvation. 

It is so, I remark, first, because it is the only state 
of mind in which it is actually possible for salvation to 
be received, or to become a matter of experience. Be- 
fore penitence, the mind of every man, according to the 
verdict of Scripture, is proud, and haughty, and rebel- 
lious ; and you yourselves will admit that it is indiffer- 
ent, repugnant to the claims of religion, and decidedly 
worldly. We all know that it is at best irreligious ; 



ON PENITENCE. 135 

ungodly, uninclined to duty, fixed upon the pleasures 
of the world, and settled in its aversion to spiritual 
things. Now, if this is so, how can a man become the 
recipient of salvation till his mind is humbled and 
brought down ? It is now lifted up against God, and 
is at enmity with him ; how in this state can he be at 
peace with God? Surely God can not pardon him 
while he continues rebellious ; and surely he can not 
renew and sanctify him while he persists in his enmity. 
It is folly, then, for an impenitent man to expect salva- 
tion ; it is philosophically impossible for him to par- 
take of it. His heart must first come down ; his pride 
must give way ; he must humble himself under the 
mighty hand of God. In the language of the text, he 
must be " poor and contrite, and tremble at the word 
of God." Unless he does this, there is no mercy for 
him, simply because in his state of mind he can not re- 
ceive it. Has a man incarcerated in a dungeon any 
possibility to escape the dreariness of his condition, or 
again to rejoice under the sweet light and balmy breath 
of heaven, who, though permitted, refuses to go forth, 
or to allow some friendly hand to conduct him ? Has 
a man who has become obnoxious to his best friend, by 
willfully offending him, any hope or likelihood of be- 
coming reconciled to him, while he is daily repeating 
his offense, and obstinately cherishing his enmity to- 
wards him ? Has a man whose mind is disquieted and 
unhappy, whose passions are like the troubled sea that 
can not rest, sending up mire and dirt, any way to be- 
come settled and subdued, while he nourishes his evil 
and restless propensities, and refuses to admit the tran- 
quillizing feelings of kindness and peace ? So is it im- 



136 ON PENITENCE. 

possible for a sinner refusing to repent, to escape the 
darkness of condemnation, or to become reconciled to 
God, or to obtain peace for bis troubled soul. His 
state of mind is incompatible with his salvation. His 
impenitence perpetuates his rebellion ; therefore he can 
not be saved. 

But again : penitence is necessary to salvation be- 
cause it is a state indispensable to your compliance 
with the condition of faith, on which salvation is di- 
rectly suspended. You are perfectly aware that God 
does not save men by a mere act of sovereignty. It is 
through the mediation of Christ alone that mercy is 
imparted ; and it is only when we believe, that is, con- 
fide and trust in Christ, that mercy becomes actually 
saving. "He that belie veth on the Son," said Christ, 
"hath life." Again: " Whosoever belie veth on Him 
shall not perish, but have everlasting life." Faith, 
then, a true, living, spiritual faith, is the great condi- 
tion of personal salvation. But it is impossible to ex- 
ercise this faith without penitence : you must become 
poor, and contrite, and tremble at the word of Cod, 
before you can thus trust in Christ. This your own re- 
flections will assure you if you will indulge them a mo- 
ment. Again, it is distinctly taught in the Scriptures : 
for you are here continually forewarned that if you 
love and persist in sin, and will not humble yourselves 
before God, you can not draw near to him with any 
confidence or trustful feelings. Our Saviour says, most 
plainly too, "Kepent and believe the Gospel;" imply- 
ing that unless you are penitent you can not believe 
in a saving sense. Paul says also that in his min- 
istry, he testified "repentance toward God, and faith 



ON PENITENCE. 137 

toward our Lord Jesus Christ :" teaching that without 
a sorrow and a renunciation of sin men can not so trust 
in Christ as to become interested in his saving merits. 
And if this is so, do you not see the necessity of peni- 
tence as the only way to God's favor ? Not only is 
salvation incompatible with any other state of mind, 
but it is dependent on a condition to which .this state 
of mind is indispensable. There remains therefore 
nothing but death and destruction to those who, de- 
spising the riches of God's goodness, and forbearance, 
and long-suffering, after their hardness and impenitent 
heart treasure up wrath against the day of wrath. 

But while penitence is thus necessary to salvation, 
so that none can find favor from God in this respect 
without it, it is also certain of salvation to all such as 
truly manifest it. This need hardly be remarked, as 
it is a thought so clearly implied in the other ; and yet 
it may not be amiss to expand it a little. " To this man 
will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite 
spirit, and trembleth at my word." Here is God's 
own promise that he will regard with favor, and show 
saving mercy to the humble and sorrowing penitent : 
instructing us that while it is needful for men to re- 
pent, they shall surely be saved when they repent. 
The worldly and unyielding may despise or pity the 
penitent : they may affect a haughty superiority over 
him: they may style his sorrow weakness, and his 
debasement folly; but the Most High complacently 
regards him, and will honor him. " For thus saith the 
high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name 
is holy : I dwell in the high and holy place ; with him 
also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive 



138 ON PENITENCE. 

the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the 
contrite ones." To the penitent then will he be pro- 
pitious : to him will he disclose the fullness of his com- 
passion : to him will he extend pardon, peace, and 
purity. Let no contrite soul therefore despair. You 
are in just the right state to find mercy ; and bitter as 
are the tears of repentance they shall be succeeded by 
a heavenly and unspeakable joy. 

Here, however, I must close. And yet before I sit 
down I would say just a word or so to those in my 
congregation who know nothing of this spirit of peni- 
tence. You have been convinced of your sin, and yet 
you have resisted and stifled all feeling in regard to 
it. You sit here to-night unmoved, on the very brink, 
we may say, of destruction. The words to which you 
have listened have been to you an unmeaning sound, 
or as a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant 
voice, and could play well upon an instrument ; for 
you have heard the words and you will do them not. 
You will go home and you will be as careless and in- 
different as ever; or if you feel, you will strive hard to 
overcome your sensibility and to destroy it in the bud. 
It has been so repeatedly before, and I sadly fear it 
will be so again. And what can I say to you, not 
already intimated in my remarks? I can only say, 
with the solemn and thrilling sensations awakened by 
a view of your condition, that there is but one step 
between you and death: not between you and the 
grave, merely, but between you and perdition. I wish 
you might realize and be affected by it as you should. 
It is a dreadful thing to stand in your position. My 
soul shudders within me as I now look forward and 



ON PENITENCE. 139 

survey its consequences. To live a rebel, and to die im- 
penitent — can you imagine the terribleness of such a life 
and end ? Ah ! were you ever so thoughtful, ever so 
much alarmed, you could not conceive one half of the 
wo and sorrow that you are preparing for yourselves 
beyond the grave. And yet you have no thought or 
alarm about it all. Be aroused, I beseech you, and 
begin this hour to reflect : be aroused, lest Grod should 
give you over to blindness and hardness of heart, that 
you may believe a lie and be damned. 



SERMON VIII. 

INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 

"But this man, because he contimieth ever, hath an unchangeable 
priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost 
that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession 
for them." Hebrews 1 : 24, 25. 

The Epistle to the Hebrews is supposed to have 
been written by Paul to the converted Jews of Pales- 
tine ; and its design, obviously, was to confirm those 
converts in the faith and doctrines of the Grospel. To 
accomplish this design the apostle proves to them the 
entire superiority of the Christian to the Jewish dispen- 
sation ; showing them that the latter was merely a type 
of the Christian dispensation, and that, having answered 
its use and purpose, it is now superseded and laid aside. 

In the course of his argument to make out this proof 
the apostle shows in the first place that Christ is supe- 
rior to angels, who were supposed to have something 
to do with the giving of the old covenant ; secondly, 
that he is superior to Moses, the leader and lawgiver 
through whom that covenant was given ; and thirdly, 
that he is superior to Aaron, the great and distin- 
guished high-priest of that covenant. As to angels, he 
shows that He is superior to them, inasmuch as He is 
the Son of Grod, and as such "the brightness of the 
Father's glory, and the express image of His person." 



INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. I4l 

As to Moses, he shows that He is superior to hirn, inas- 
much as He is the Son, ruling in his own house, the 
Church of Grod, and Moses was only a servant in that 
house. And as to Aaron, he shows that He is superior 
to him, inasmuch as he was a type of Christ, and his 
priesthood a typical priesthood ; and inasmuch, seeing 
that Christ has now come, as he is to be no longer 
succeeded in the office, but the office is itself, as a hu- 
man arrangement, to cease, and Christ is alone and 
forever to assume it. 

It is to this last point that the apostle gives his chief 
attention ; showing by various considerations, and with 
a clearness that could not fail to make its impression, 
the superiority of Christ's priesthood to Aaron's, and 
thus, as this was the peculiar distinction of the Jewish 
dispensation, the superiority of Christ's dispensation to 
that. The text occurs in connection with his argument 
on this point. It is one of his illustrations regarding 
it. " But this man, because He continueth ever, hath 
an unchangeable priesthood." Aaron was not so. He 
was a frail and mortal man, and so were all his succes- 
sors ; and they have all passed away. But Christ con- 
tinueth ever : though dead, he is alive again ; though 
truly man, he has been glorified and is immortal. 
Hence he has an unchangeable priesthood ; that is, "a 
priesthood which passeth not from hand to hand ;" a 
priesthood that shall forever remain in himself, and 
that he shall exercise without change or assistance per- 
petually. And this illustrates his superiority to Aaron. 
It shows that as the antetype is greater than the type, 
and the substance greater than the shadow, so he is 
greater than one and all of the high-priests of the Jews. 



142 INTERCESSION OF CHKIST. 

As to the remainder of the text, it is an inference that 
the apostle draws from this consideration. "Where- 
fore — in view of the fact that Christ is thus a perpetual 
and the real high-priest — wherefore he is able also to 
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by 
him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for 
them." 

The point in the text to which I design particularly 
to direct your attention is the fact seemingly incident- 
ally stated, that Christ ever liveth to make intercession 
for us. This fact though incidentally is yet positively 
stated, and in it there is enough of instruction and 
comfort to call forth our most devout and careful medi- 
tation. Nor is this the only instance in which the fact 
is stated. It is elsewhere declared by the apostle in 
this and in other epistles, and we are taught to regard 
it as an important and a blessed truth. Let us then 
take it into our contemplation as the theme of this 
morning, and may the Spirit of Grod assist and bless 
us in the endeavor. 

It will be perceived then that in referring to the 
intercession of Christ in the text the apostle does so in 
a form connecting it with his priesthood. He is an 
unchangeable High-Priest, and as an unchangeable 
High-Priest he intercedes for us. The first remark, 
therefore, that we are naturally led to make is, that 
the intercession of Christ is a legitimate part of his 
priestly office. 

I need not observe that the priestly office embraces 
two branches, contemplating two objects; for this, 
without being reminded of it, will immediately occur to 
you. You will remember that the business of the high- 



INTEKCESSION OF CHKIST. 148 

priest is in the first place to atone for sin, and secondly, 
to make intercession for the sinner. You will remem- 
ber that this is the two-fold work that devolved on the 
high-priest of the Jews ; that he slew the victim that was 
brought to the temple as a sacrifice for sins, making thus 
an atonement, and that then, taking the blood of the 
victim into the most holy place, he sprinkled it upon the 
Mercy-Seat, interceding thus for the people. You will 
remember too that this is precisely the two-fold work 
of Christ ; that he came into the world to give himself 
as a sacrifice for sin, and that, having done this and 
been accepted, he has ascended into heaven, the Holy 
of Holies, and appears there in the presence of Grod for 
us. And now the remark before us is, that the inter- 
cession of Christ is an essential part of his office as our 
High-Priest. It is as much so as his atonement. These 
two branches of his office are equally essential. Neither 
of them is merely incidental. Nor is either of them 
alone sufficient. As we could not possibly be saved 
without the atonement of Christ, so even with the 
atonement we can not expect to be saved without his 
intercession. The one is as truly connected with our 
salvation as the other ; so that it is only through the 
two conjoined that Christ becomes our actual Kedeem- 
er. Hence the necessity that Christ should ascend to 
heaven, after having made the propitiation. That part 
of his work could be performed on earth, and as the 
proper place was performed here ; but to intercede he 
must return to his Father, and therefore we read that 
having made one sacrifice for sins, he has passed 
into heaven, and has forever sat down at the hand of 
God. 



144 INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 

But this remark opens the way to others. It is in- 
deed a leading remark, suggesting nearly all the reflec- 
tions we need at this time refer to in consideration of 
the subject. It suggests among other things the ground 
on which the intercession of Christ proceeds and be- 
comes admissible. This ground is his atonement. 
Having as our High-Priest first made this atonement, 
he has removed all objections to our reconciliation and 
salvation ; and consequently he has opened a way to 
the throne, where he can now appear, and intercede 
before Divine Majesty in our behalf. It was only when 
the high-priest among the Jews had made this atone- 
ment in type by "the shedding blood" that he was 
allowed to enter the Holy Place, and there make his 
intercession. Without this first, his intercession would 
have been fruitless and unregarded; and indeed he 
would not have dared to venture there to make it. So 
too Christ could not appear in the presence of his 
Father for us until he had made the atonement by the 
shedding of his own blood. Then the way was open, 
and intercession became proper and possible. Now he 
can plead for us and advocate our cause. Now on the 
ground of his propitiation he can present our case and 
obtain the help we need. Now all impediments are 
removed in the way of our salvation, and God, having 
thus made it possible for him to be just and yet to 
justify the ungodly, will listen, and can consistently 
listen, to the prayer of his Son for the penitent. 

And how pleasing, and mysteriously glorious, is the 
subject in this view of it ! We see the adorable Saviour 
suffering, dying, shedding his blood, and atoning for 
the sins of the world ; and then rising from the grave, 



INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 145 

ascending into heaven, and there on the basis of his 
atonement, and with it as an all-prevailing plea, inter- 
ceding for the objects of his compassion at the throne 
of his Father ! Truly there is something to impress 
the mind, and to awaken a sentiment of wonder and 
admiration in this view ! There is something, too, 
calculated at once to humble and to assure us ! to 
humble us in view of God's amazing love and gracious 
purpose toward us, to assure us in view of the com- 
pleteness and certainty of the way of salvation. "We 
may well exclaim: " Who can harm us !" Or in other 
language : " Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ 
that died ; yea, rather, that is risen again, that is even 
at the right hand of God, who ever liveth to make 
intercession for us." 

But there is suggested to us in the same way, not 
only the ground of Christ's intercession, but his pecu- 
liar fitness to make intercession. He is a High-Priest, 
as we see, able to atone. Not only is this a part of 
his office, but it is a part that he has actually and fully 
accomplished. This we know from the history we 
have of his life and works, so that there has been no 
failure in regard to this part of his undertaking. He 
has truly given himself as a sacrifice for sins, and this 
sacrifice is entirely adequate, God having assured us 
that he so regards it and accepts it. There is then no 
deficiency here; so far, certainly, he is a Mediator 
competent to his work. But a High-Priest able to 
atone is one certainly able also to intercede. The 
merit and dignity qualifying him for the first part of 
the office must qualify him also for the latter. More- 
over the very fact that he has atoned gives him the 



146 INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 

right, and invests him with the function to intercede also. 
So was it with the priests of old. The qualifications 
that gave them a fitness for the first branch of their 
office, gave them in like manner a fitness for the 
second ; so that when they had slain the sacrifice, it 
was proper and suitable that they should enter into 
the Holy of Holies, and there make intercession. And 
they, as we have said, were the only persons who could 
do this ; none others were allowed to enter that place, 
and the intercession of none others would have been 
at all regarded. These are arrangements with respect 
to the ancient temple with which you are all familiar. 
And it is in this way that we have suggested to us the 
fitness of Christ to become our Intercessor. Being a 
High-Priest qualified thus completely to atone for our 
sins; so infinitely worthy and meritorious that his 
sacrifice is accepted and declared to be a full and suffi- 
cient propitiation, he is able so to intercede that Grod 
will regard our cause, and that we shall obtain mercy, 
and find grace to help in time of need. And when 
connected with this we survey the excellent and per- 
fect qualities of his mind and heart, as exhibited in his 
life and teachings and atoning work, and commanding 
universal homage and admiration, we must feel our- 
selves gladdened with the assurance that we have an 
Intercessor so perfectly suited and competent to appear 
for us before his Father. When we remember that he 
is infinitely wise, so that he can not err ; that he is im- 
maculately holy, so that he need not, like those high- 
priests, to offer a sacrifice first for himself and then for 
the people ; that he is compassionate and merciful, so 
that he is not a high-priest who can not be touched with 



INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 147 

the feelings of our infirmities ; and then when we asso- 
ciate his perfect qualities with his offered and accepted 
sacrifice, we have every thing to encourage, and nothing 
to qualify, our satisfaction and confidence. 

In the next place there is suggested, along with these 
views, the manner in which Christ makes his interces- 
sion. Directly, the Scriptures say but very little on 
this point ; and yet in what they say concerning the 
duty and functions of the priesthood we are put in 
possession of some idea in regard to it. We naturally 
ask, How did the Aaronic priests make their interces- 
sion? How, after their typical atonement, did they 
plead in behalf of the people ? And in the answer to 
this we may find some suggestion as to the manner in 
which Christ intercedes. And from the Jewish Eitual, 
as given by Moses, and explained by Paul, we learn 
that it was not so much by word of mouth that those 
high-priests made their intercession ; it was rather by 
sprinkling the blood of sacrifice upon the mercy-seat. 
This may have been attended by some form of words, 
but it was itself the significant form of intercession. 
They entered the holy place, taking with them this 
blood, and then approaching, with reverent steps, the 
Propitiatory, sprinkled it there before Grod. It was a 
solemn act, and it was an intercessory act, pleading 
humbly with God for a penitent people. And from 
this, remembering that the Aaronic priesthood was a 
type of Christ's, it seems legitimate to infer that He 
makes his intercession in some similar way. We can 
not, of course, suppose that he literally presents there 
the blood he shed for sin ; nor that he shows his body 
as wounded, and bruised, and bleeding ; for this we 



148 INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 

know can not be the case, seeing lie has been exalted 
and glorified ; and yet we may suppose that his very 
corporeal presence in heaven is a standing and per- 
petual memorial of the atonement he has made for 
mankind, and thus a living and efficacious intercession 
for his people. The poet has expressed this sentiment 
in words that we often and feelingly sing ; and though 
the words are poetical, the sentiment is true : 

" Five bleeding wounds he bears, 

Eeceived on Calvary ; 
They pour effectual prayers, 

They strongly speak for me ; 
Forgive him, oh ! forgive, they cry, 
Nor let that ransomed sinner die." 

But it is not implied in this conception of the inter- 
cession of Christ, that he does not also intercede for us 
directly and verbally. This may be the case for aught 
we know, and the probability is that it is so. Several 
declarations by him in his last conversations with his 
disciples, and the declaration of the apostle John, that 
he is our advocate with the Father, seem legitimately 
to suppose this ; and it is an idea, too, which it is diffi- 
cult to exclude from the mind. And yet it is along 
with the presence of his human nature as referred to, 
as a testimonial of his sacrifice for sin, that this is done; 
and it is because of its conjunction with a plea so pow- 
erful that this becomes also powerful. 

But another thing suggested in regard to the subject 
that I design to notice, and which I hope may not fail 
to make an effectual impression on your minds, is the 
object to which the intercession of Christ is directed. 



INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 149 

Why does he intercede for us, what is the end he has 
in view ? 

If he is our High-Priest ; if he has made as such an 
atonement for our sins, and full provision for our sal- 
vation ; and if now he is interceding for us in the le- 
gitimate prosecution of his priestly work, then it seems 
a proper inference that the object of his intercession is 
our actual and personal salvation. The two branches 
of his office must relate to the same object ; and if the 
one contemplates our salvation, so must the other. 

This is in accordance with the views that have been 
already presented. It has been remarked, that as our 
High-Priest he is our Saviour ; that as such, he first 
atones for sin, and then intercedes for the sinner ; that 
these two functions of his office are equally necessary ; 
and that it is only through the two united that he can 
accomplish his purpose actually to save us. It is in ac- 
cordance, too, with the language of the text. This says, 
u Wherefore he is able also to save them to the utter- 
most that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth 
to make intercession for them;" which you see connects 
directly the intercession of Christ with our salvation ; 
declaring that he is able to save us, because he inter- 
cedes for us ; and implying of course that our salva- 
tion is the object of his intercession for us. 

In speaking, then, of the object of his intercession, 
we have it here definitely before us ; and let me now, 
as exhibiting this object in the clearest and fullest man- 
ner, fix your attention upon this language of the text. 
w Wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost." Here 
you see that there is a most satisfactory statement of 
Christ's ability to save. The words obviously imply 



150 INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 

that he is able to save to the uttermost, first as it regards 
sin. That is, he is able to save from all the guilt, all 
the power, all the pollution, all the consequences of 
sin. No matter how great the guilt of sin may be ; 
nor how inveterate its power ; nor how vile its pollu- 
tion ; nor how alarming its penal consequences, he has 
the undisputed ability to deliver us from it all. Be- 
lieving upon him we shall be justified and regenerated, 
and shall become the children and the heirs of God ; 
and thus he will become our wisdom, righteousness, 
sanctincation, and redemption. They also imply that 
he is able to save to the uttermost as it regards the hu- 
man family, "all them that come unto God by him." 
It is true he does not save any but those who come to 
God by him ; who by believing upon him become his 
followers; but then all ma?/ come, and he has the 
ability to save them if they will come. There is, con- 
sequently, no restriction to Christ as a Saviour in this 
respect. JSTo one need suppose that he can not become 
a Saviour to him ; but all nations and all individuals 
come within the range of his saving power. The ends 
of the earth may come, and they may look upon him 
and be saved. As sin can not be too enormous for 
his ability to reach, so sinners can not be too numerous 
for his ability to encompass. And I feel myself author- 
ized to proclaim this truth to you to-day ; and could 
my voice be heard so far, and could I proclaim the 
truth so widely, I should feel myself authorized to say 
to each and every sinner that treads this day upon the 
face of the earth : " He is able to save to the uttermost 
all them that come unto God by him. Come, for all 
things are now ready." 



INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 151 

But the words imply, also, that he is able to save to 
the uttermost as it regards the duration of our being. 
In other words, he is able to save us eternally. Not 
only is he able to deliver us now from sin, but he is 
able to keep us to the day of redemption, and to exalt 
us to the glorious and everlasting bliss of heaven. 
Having commenced a good work in us, he is able to 
perfect it. He is able to strengthen, settle, and estab- 
lish us ; to uphold and keep us from falling ; to sanc- 
tify us wholly ; and to present us at last before the 
Father with exceeding joy. He is able even to redeem 
our bodies from the grave, to change them, and to 
fashion them after his own glorious body, and then to 
advance us soul and body to the high and glorious por- 
tions of heaven. 

Such is Christ's ability to save, and such the object 
of his intercession for us. To accomplish this great 
end he stands there continually before the throne, hav- 
ing us ever in his thoughts, and bearing for us in his 
soul this wonderful load of solicitude and concern. 
Let us adore and praise his majestic kindness, and cul- 
tivate more than we have been accustomed to do a 
sense of our obligation to him. We think, I fear, too 
little on this subject, and feel, I fear, too little with re- 
gard to it. It should not be so, but we should often 
refer to Christ in his character as our intercessor, and 
should be deeply affected as we thus remember him. 
Why are we here to-day ? Why have we been preserved 
amid the changes and dangers of life, while death has 
been all around us, and many have been called away, 
and the day of their probation closed, and why have 
we still the blessings and privileges of the Grospel? 



152 INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 

Because he ever liveth to make intercession for us. 
"Why is it, though we have been so unfaithful to our 
calling ; though we have neglected so many privileges, 
misused so many mercies, omitted so many duties; 
though we have been so dilatory in the path of life 
advanced so slowly in holiness, and done so little good 
in the world, why is it that we have not been cut 
down as cumberers of the ground, but have still a 
place in God's Church, and opportunity to awake from 
our stupidity, and do something still, if we will ? Be- 
cause he ever liveth to make intercession for us. Why 
is it, though we have sometimes been the children 
of affliction ; though difficulties have often gathered 
around us, and sorrow forced a way to our hearts; 
though the world has appeared cheerless without, and 
all has been dreary and sad within ; though faith has 
sometimes been feeble, and hope ready to expire ; 
though, when we have long looked for the light, the 
sky of our mind has been all dark ; why is it, that 
under such circumstances, we have still been able to hold 
out, to keep up within the fainting breast some sustain- 
ing confidence in Grod ; to say to the tempter, "Though 
he slay me, yet will I trust in him," and to press on, 
though sorrowfully, in the way of life, hoping against 
hope, and believing in the mysterious darkness that all 
in the end would be well — why is it ? Because he ever 
liveth to make intercession for us. He has obtained 
for us the needed grace, and the needed forbearance, 
and here, therefore, we are, the living to praise him. 
Let us, then, think much of this subject, and let us take 
strength and courage from it to go on with fidelity and 
comfort in the Christian race. 



INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 153 

But what shall I say to the sinner ? He has never 
come to God through Christ, and can never, therefore, 
prove his ability to save him ; never, I mean, while he 
refuses to come. For him Christ died, as well as for 
others. Yes, perishing sinner, his atonement was made 
for you as Well as for the truest believer. And will 
you let him die in vain? Will you disregard his 
mercy, and neglect the salvation he has provided for 
you ? "Will you, notwithstanding all his love for you, 
and all that he has done for you, persist in your rebel- 
lion, and go down to hell ? Let me entreat you to 
pause, and no longer act so recklessly. You have each 
of you an immortal soul; it must be saved or lost. 
Now it is in danger of being lost. You are guilty and 
wicked, and there is but a step between you and death. 
Oh I consider your condition. Consider the worth of 
your soul, and the immenseness of its danger. Con- 
sider your unspeakable perversity in rejecting Christ. 
Cry to God to awaken and alarm you ; to put feeling 
into your stupid hearts ; to take away your heart of 
stone, and give you a heart of flesh. Cry to him while 
yet there is time, for your life is short and uncertain, 
and may be even now ebbing to its close. Cry this mo- 
ment, this very moment, for now is the accepted time, 
and now is the day of salvation. To-morrow may be 
too late. To-morrow your friends may all around re- 
ceive the tidings that you are gone the way of all the 
earth, and may prepare to follow you to the tomb. 
To-day, then, hear his voice. To-day come to God 
through Christ, and find that he is a High-Priest, able 
to save you to the uttermost. 



Y* 



SERMON IX. 

THE SECURITY OF THE GOOD MAN. 

11 And who is he that will harm you, if ye bo followers of that which 
is good?" 1 Peter 3: 13. 

To be followers of that which is good is the same 
thing, simply expressed, as to be good. It is to fear 
Grod, to walk in his ways, to cultivate his favor. In a 
word, according to the literal meaning of the original, 
it is to be imitators of Grod. In regard to such, the de- 
claration of the text, given in the energetic and im- 
pressive form of an interrogatory, is, that nothing shall 
harm them. They occupy, so to speak, a position 
above evil. They stand where no weapon formed 
against them can reach them. They are secure, abso- 
lutely secure from any real and actual damage. The 
doctrine, then, suggested by the text, and which it is 
the design of this discourse to elucidate, is, That the 
good man is always and everywhere safe. No matter 
what may occur in the revolution of human affairs ; no 
matter what either the present or the future may de- 
velop in relation to himself, or the world in which he 
lives, or the universe itself, he, notwithstanding all, is 
surely and completely safe. There is One who loves 
the good, who watches over, and protects, and shields 
them ; who has declared that he will never leave nor 



THE SECURITY OF THE GOOD MAN. 155 

forsake them; and who, by day and night, amid all 
changes and hazards, has them in his special and holy 
keeping. 

Let me, then, for a short time, direct your attention 
to this subject. Let me try to illustrate before you 
a truth so full of hope and consolation ; one, too, of 
necessity in this life so appropriate to our condition and 
circumstances. And let me call upon you to unite 
with me in the prayer that God may grant to us the 
influence of his Holy Spirit, that we may be able to 
•perceive the fullness and beauty of this truth, and to 
receive from it the comfort it is calculated to impart. 

The good man is at all times and under all circum- 
stances perfectly safe. 

I. The first consideration that I offer in order to open 
to your minds this truth, is, that God, whom the good 
man serves, is able, at all times, and under all circum- 
stances, to protect him. He has all power, we know, 
both in heaven and on earth. It is one of the first 
conceptions we receive of his attributes, that he is om- 
nipotent, and can do whatever he will. No one, no- 
thing can at any time stay his hand, or say to him, in 
any force or combination, what doest thou? In him 
abides, and will forever abide, unlimited might and 
energy. He ruleth in the armies of the heaven, and 
doeth according to his will among the inhabitants of 
the earth. He made all things, sustains all things, and 
in accordance with his own purpose controls and dis- 
poses of all things. And then, too, he exercises a con- 
stant and particular providence over the affairs of the 
world, and of the whole universe, He has not created 



156 THE SECURITY OF THE GOOD MAN. 

us and thrown us off upon our own resources. He 
has not built for us this world, and the magnificent 
universe in which it is hung up as one of his lumina- 
ries, and now withdrawn from us his care and super- 
intendence, and left us to provide for ourselves. No : 
he is yet with us, and continually near to us. In him 
we live, and move, and have our being, and his sus- 
taining and providing hand is ever open to our wants. 
The very hairs of our head are all numbered, and we 
are not absent for a single moment from his eye, or 
particular notice, or benevolent concern. Every one 
of us, and every one of our affairs, is perfectly known 
to him. We can not perform a deed, or utter a word, 
or conceive a thought, of which he is not cognizant, 
and which he does not observe according to its charac- 
ter and deserts. He literally hears our every sigh, and 
witnesses our every tear. He is never absent from our 
side. 

And all this shows, if we may believe it— and be- 
lieve it we must, unless we reject the clear teachings 
of Eevelation — how able Grod is to protect those who 
put their trust in him. Being omnipotent, so that all 
things are subject to his control, and nothing able to 
thwart his designs ; and being omnipresent, so that he 
exercises a constant and particular providence in the 
world and the universe at large, surely there is no lack 
in his ability to cover and defend, and forever to take 
care of every good man, and every holy being in his 
vast dominions. Great changes and important revolu- 
tions, it is true, may take place; many threatening evils 
may arise, in the progress of affairs, to excite and 
strengthen alarm ; and often, perhaps, the heart of the 



THE SECURITY OF THE GOOD MAN. 157 

good man may begin to sink within him ; but there 
is no cause for a single fear, not one evil apprehension. 
He who sits at the head of the realm of creation, who 
hold all things material and immaterial in his hand, 
and subject to his disposal — He can direct and over- 
rule all these changes, He can modify and manage all 
these revolutions, He can hold back and turn aside all 
evil that might otherwise follow in their career. No- 
thing can happen except with his permission. He 
marks out to all events their courses, assigns to all their 
issues, and keeps all things within the reach of his own 
supervision. And surely, in the hands of such a being, 
the good man is safe. Who can harm him, what can 
ever occur to harm him, under the watch-care and pro- 
tection of one so full of ability to do him good ? 

II. But again : the next consideration that I offer to 
elucidate the truth we are considering, is, that God, 
who is thus able to protect the good man, is also fully 
disposed to do it. It has already been observed that 
God loves the good. He does so because he loves good- 
ness. He is himself good and holy, and being so es- 
sentially and eternally, he loves moral goodness and 
excellence wherever it is found, and in whomever it 
exists. Thus, by becoming good, we ally ourselves, 
so to speak, to God ; so far as our goodness extends, 
we are like him. In the language of the apostle, we 
have become partakers of the divine nature : by the 
transforming power of the Holy Spirit, and the renew- 
ing of the mind, we have been brought to understand 
in our experience the meaning of the command, " Be 
ye holy, for I the Lord you God am holy." And every 



158 THE SECUKITY OF THE GOOD MAN. 

one who attains to this state and character, makes him- 
self the friend of God. He is reconciled to God and 
God with him. He is also, as was never the case in 
his unrenewed state, pleased with God, and God is 
pleased with him. There is peace, a sympathy and 
congeniality between him and his formerly disowned 
and offended Maker. The grace of God in Christ has 
effected a great change in him, so that He can look 
upon him with delight, and regard him with affection. 
He is attracted, so to express it, toward him ; because 
He sees in him an assimilation to Himself, a participa- 
tion of his purity, a reflection of his image. He loves 
him with a true and enduring affection, and will never, 
no, never forget him. He rejoices over him, and is 
glorified by him. He has taken him into his special 
favor, and bestows upon him his special smiles. 

And this consideration also shows how high and 
certain is the good man's security. God, in whom he 
trusts, is not only able to defend him, having all power, 
and being ever present with him, but he is his friend 
and father, and as such is entirely disposed to do it. 
It is impossible that God should regard him with indif- 
ference, or feel no certain interest in him. He has set 
his heart upon him, and is ever ready to do him good. 
And the interest he feels in him is as abiding as it is 
ardent. It is characterized with a deep and indescrib- 
able tenderness, follows him in every stage and emer- 
gency in life, and is susceptible of no change or abate- 
ment while time or eternity endures. Heaven and 
earth may pass away, but God's love for his people 
will never fail ; consequently the time will never come 
when he will be indisposed to exert his power to shel- 



THE SECURITY OF THE GOOD MAN. 159 

ter and provide for them. United to them in the Son 
of his love, and having received them freely and fully 
to his favor, he will never leave them nor forsake them, 
but will always be as willing as he is able to care for 
and to bless them. Who, then, is he that can harm 
you, if ye be followers of that which is good ? 

III. But another consideration that will illustrate 
still further this truth, is, that God, who is thus able 
and disposed to take care of the good, has promised, 
and actually pledged himself to do it. We may con- 
sider it enough that he has the ability and disposition, for 
with this assurance who can entertain a fear respecting 
his peace and safety ? But this is not all. He has come 
forward and given us the plain and positive declara- 
tion, that those who trust in him shall never be con- 
founded. Consult his holy word, and you will see 
how clearly and certainly this is so. You will see, in 
the first place, that the good man is indeed as near and 
dear to God as has been represented. He declares his. 
love toward him, and calls him his beloved, his chosen 
one, his child, in whom his soul delighteth. His love, 
he assures us, is an everlasting love, and that it shall 
never be removed from him. He gives us, indeed, 
every proof that can be considered necessary, that the 
righteous man lives in his remembrance and affection, 
and that nothing shall be able to dispossess or disparage 
him, if he lives faithfully to him. 

You will see, also, in connection with these assur- 
ances of endearment, promises of help and protection 
the most, certain and abundant. Again and again does 
God say to the good man : "I will never leave thee 



160 THE SECURITY OF THE GOOD MAN. 

nor forsake thee." He declares that He has made a 
covenant with him, even the sure mercies of David, 
and that though all others should forsake him, He will 
never forsake him. "Because he hath set his love upon 
me," he says, "therefore will I deliver him: I will set 
him on high, because he hath known my name. He 
shall call upon me, and I will answer him ; I will be 
with him in trouble ; I will deliver him, and honor 
him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him 
my salvation." And then, in addressing his promises 
from time to time, to such as trust in him, he says : 
" As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Because thou 
hast made the Lord, even 'the Most High, thy habita- 
tion, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any 
plague come nigh thy dwelling. He shall cover thee 
with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: 
his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Call upon 
me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou 
shalt glorify me. Fear not; for I have redeemed thee; 
I have called thee by thy name ; thou art mine. When 
thou passest through the waters I will be with thee ; 
and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee : 
when thou walketh through the fire thou shalt not be 
burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Fear 
thou not, for I am with thee ; be not dismayed, for I 
am thy God : I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help 
thee ; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of 
my righteousness. I am thy shield, and thy exceed- 
ing great reward." 

From these declarations, and such as these which are 
continually occurring in God's word, how obvious is it 
that those who put their trust in him are safe. What 



THE SECURITY OF THE GOOD MAN. 161 

has lie to fear who is the subject of promises like these? 
The Almighty who is able to protect him, has not only 
manifested his disposition to do so, but has positively 
pledged himself to do so. And his promises are not 
equivocal and indefinite, but full, unqualified, and with- 
out ambiguity. They are made in love and sincerity, 
and they mean all that they imply. Neither can these 
promises fail. He is the God of integrity and truth, 
and will not suffer his word to fall to the ground. 
When he declares that he will take care of his people, 
no matter what may threaten them or happen to them 
in the developments of his providence, he fully pur- 
poses so to do, and with him there is no fickleness or 
change as with men. — Let the fearful and desponding 
disciple then resort to these promises for help. They 
are a sure foundation on which he may rest. Your 
God who loves you, and is ever near to you, and is 
competent to preserve you from evil, declares that he 
will never abandon you. He has given you his word 
that he will be with you in all trouble and danger, and 
amid all changes, and his word is firmer than the pil- 
lars of heaven. You have therefore every reason to be 
confident and calm. You may sing with the Psalmist, 
knowing that your song shall never be turned into 
mourning: " God is our refuge and strength, a very 
present help in time of trouble. Therefore will not we 
fear, though the earth be removed, and though the 
mountains be carried into the midst of the sea : though 
the waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains 
shake with the swelling thereof. — The Lord of hosts is 
with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge." On his 
promises then you may rely : and encompassed and 



162 THE SECURITY OF THE GOOD MAN. 

sheltered with these promises, who is he that can 
harm you if ye be followers of that which is good ? 

IV. But I observe once more, as completing our il- 
lustration of this truth, that Grod who has the ability 
and disposition to protect the good man, and has pro- 
mised to do so, has always acted in accordance with his 
promises in the ages that are past. In other words, the 
good have always been safe in his keeping heretofore, 
and from this it is legitimate to reason that they shall 
be safe in his keeping hereafter. So far as time is con- 
cerned we know from actual history that it has been 
well with the righteous, and though we have no intelli- 
gence from them how it is with them now beyond the 
shores of mortality, yet we have undoubted information 
from Grod's word that it is well with them still. He 
who cared for them when they were upon earth has 
assured us that he cares for them now; and he who 
cared for them because they were good, will care for 
all the good in all time and eternity to come. 

Look back then upon the past, and survey the deal- 
ings of Grod with the pious, as they appear before you 
at different times and places. Look at Abel, and 
Enoch, and Noah. Look at Abraham, and Isaac, and 
Jacob. Look at Lot in Sodom, and Joseph in Egypt. 
Look at Moses, who " when he came to years refused 
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter ; choosing 
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than 
to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." Look too 
at Samuel, and David, and Elijah, and all the pious 
kings and prophets of Israel. These good men were 
all at times in affliction, and dangers and trials were often 



THE SECUEITY QF THE GOOD MAN. 163 

lurking in their path to dishearten them: but God 
eminently honored them with his presence, and nothing 
was able to harm them. And when we come to a later 
period in time, and review the lives of the apostles and 
primitive Christians, we see that this same care and pro- 
tection were exercised toward them, and they too were 
perfectly safe amid all their hardships and exposures. 
And so has God always been with his people in the 
past. He has sustained and strengthened them, and in 
the day of their calamity he has been near their side to 
preserve them from evil. All through he has been to 
them a faithful Protector. 

And this consideration shows too how certain is the 
godly man's security. It demonstrates that God is in- 
deed able and disposed to keep those who put their 
trust in him, and that he is faithful to his promise. It 
shows us God actually engaged in the defense and wel- 
fare of the good. It is then a sure and sustaining 
ground of hope. Let the humble and devoted child of 
God reflect upon it and rejoice. It assures him by 
what he has done for the objects of his love what he will 
do for them in all the future. He sees that in follow- 
ing that which is good he is pursuing the same path 
which the worthy have pursued in every age of the 
world : that he is one with them in character, and ob- 
ject, and aim ; that he has the same faith, the same 
spirit, the same hope ; and that he is encompassed with 
the same arm of strength and protection. He has there- 
fore nothing to fear. He has only to ask himself, did 
the protection of the godly ever fail ? Have the ser- 
vants of the Most High ever fallen under the weight 
of tribulation, or been left to perish in the dark day of 



164 THE SECUEITY OF THE GOOD MAX. 

calamity ? If this has never happened in the past, it is 
reasonable to believe that it will never happen in the 
future. He who was continually near to his people of 
old will be with his people now. He who never de- 
serted them in the season of their need and trial will 
never desert you. He who guarded, and sustained, 
and comforted them ; who covered their head in the 
day of battle, and kept them from falling ; who drove 
back evil that it should not overwhelm them, and opened 
their way by subduing their difficulties before them ; 
who held them up when they were ready to sink, and 
poured a cordial into their heart when ready to faint ; 
who made darkness light before them, rough places 
smooth, and crooked ways straight ; who at no time 
and in no instance suffered any thing really and in the 
end to harm them, will also succor and support and 
bless you. He will look after all your interests, and 
manage all your affairs ; He will accompany you 
through the pilgrimage of life, and guide, and uphold, 
and deliver in every time of necessity. He will be 
with you too as your life approaches its termination. 
Then his rod and his staff shall comfort you, and the 
hope he inspires within you will cheer and radiate the 
gloomy darkness of the tomb : and as your immortal 
spirit goes forth and abandons its mortal tenement, he 
will receive you with a smile to himself, and admit you 
to the perfect and everlasting rest of heaven. And 
thus in the concern that Glod has always entertained 
for his people, and the deliverances and protection he 
has always extended to them, we see an illustration, an 
actual exemplification of the truth we are contemplat- 
ing : and with this view of the subject before him every 



THE SECUEITY OF THE GOOD MAN. 165 

Christian should feel that he is at all times and under 
all possible circumstances safe ; that he has nothing to 
fear, no matter what may forebode, nor what transpire ; 
and that there is for him a sure and unfailing source 
of comfort under the sorrows and dark prospects of life 
in the words : " Who then is he that can harm you, if 
ye be followers of that which is good ?" 

Who then that listens to me to-day has been the vic- 
tim of anxiety and dread amid the trials and uncertain- 
ties of this life ? It would be strange were there none 
such here. Notwithstanding the abundant assurances 
we have in Scripture to nerve and fortify our minds, 
fear and distressing doubts will, after all, at times as- 
sault us. And it may be that some peculiarly oppressed 
and desponding soul has found way this morning to 
this place of prayer. If this is so, I shall rejoice that I 
have selected this theme, and would now in conclusion 
commend it especially to his reflection. Do you not 
see enough here to comfort you ? If you are trusting 
in God you need care for nothing more. Dismiss your 
anxiety, take courage, and rejoice. Be careful for 
nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication 
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known 
unto God. He has the power to keep you safe ; he 
has the disposition ; he has promised to do it ; he has 
always kept the godly, and he always will. You are 
secure then in his hands. Whatever takes places you 
shall have peace. Let this assurance establish and set- 
tle your agitated mind ; let it comfort you here in the 
house of God, as you look to him for relief and assist- 
ance; let it insinuate itself more fully into your 
thoughts and feelings as you retire to your home ; let 



166 THE SECURITY OF THE GOOD MAN. 

it accompany and sustain yon in all the conflicts and 
fears of yonr future life. Thus will your mind be kept 
in perfect peace, being staid on him : thus in the mul- 
titude of your thoughts within you will his comforts 
delight your soul. And now what more shall I say ? 
In the language of the poet I would say : 



" Still heavy is thy heart? 
Still sink thy spirits down ? 
Cast off the weight — let fear depart, 
And every care be gone. 

" What though thou rulest not ; 
Yet heaven, and earth, and hell 
Proclaim — G-od sitteth on the throne, 
And ruleth all things well." 



SERMON X. 

FAITH OF THE PATRIAKCHS. 

" These all died in the faith ; not having received the promises, bat 
having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced 
them ; and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the 
earth." Hebrews 11 : 13. 

The whole chapter from which, this text is selected 
refers, you will recollect, to the subject of faith. In 
the first place the apostle defines what faith is, and 
remarks that it is " the substance of things hoped for, 
the evidence of things not seen." He then goes on, t 
with a view to develop its excellence and efficiency, to 
illustrate it by particular and individual instances. In 
this way many of the pious and believing of ancient 
times are brought in succession before us, and we see 
in them, as if by present, living example, what faith 
is — what it does for its possessors, and what it qualifies 
them, both in the form of labor and endurance, to do 
for themselves. In the verses preceding the text, Abel, 
Enoch, Noah ; and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah, 
a*re individually referred to ; and it is consequently to 
them in particular, after describing the loftiness and 
achievements of their faith, that the apostle makes 
allusion in the text. "These all died" — that is, de- 
parted, for Enoch did not die, but was translated — " in 
faith ; not having received the promises, but having 



168 FAITH OF THE PATRIARCHS. 

seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and 
embraced them ; and confessed that they were strang- 
ers and pilgrims on the earth." 

The subject to which these words direct our atten- 
tion, and which I shall attempt in this discourse briefly 
to unfold before you, is the faith of the patriarchs ; and 
as it is a subject that can not fail to interest the spirit- 
ual, so too, it is hoped, it is one that will not fail to 
profit the worldly. 

I. In considering the subject, the first point that 
presents itself for notice is the nature of this faith. 
What did the patriarchs believe, and what was the 
faith that they exercised ? This is the inquiry that 
demands at once our attention. 

But this inquiry is fully answered in the text. We 
here learn that the object of the patriarchs' faith was 
the promises of God — those promises that were made 
and renewed to them from time to time, and that sus- 
tained and comforted them through their long and 
sometimes sorrowful pilgrimage. These promises were 
numerous, taking, at different times, different forms and 
aspects, but they may be all summed up in the one 
great promise of eternal life in heaven, through the 
interposition and mediation of Christ. The patriarchs 
knew that they must die ; that this was a consequence 
of sin; and that beyond death there are other and 
more terrible consequences still to all who reject the 
knowledge and mercy of G-od. They knew too that 
Christ had been promised to the world as a Saviour; 
that he was the only medium through which the good- 
ness and saving love of God could reach them ; and 



FAITH OF THE PATKIAKCHS. 169 

that by trusting upon him, or, which amounts to the 
same thing, upon the promises of God concerning him, 
they would be accepted and be made partakers of divine 
favor, and enjoy the hope and assurance of everlasting 
life. And it was to this blessed promise, made to them 
as sinners, and embracing the great and glorious scheme 
of redemption, that their faith had reference. It laid 
hold upon this promise as their only solace and secur- 
ity ; and it united them to it, and gave them an interest 
in it, as the source and fountain of future and immor- 
tal blessedness. 

This will become apparent when we observe, in ad- 
dition to the text, some things that the apostle has 
stated in this chapter respecting these worthies. Take, 
for instance, Abel, the first that is mentioned, and of 
whom the apostle says that he offered to God a more 
acceptable sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained 
the witness that he was righteous, God testifying to his 
gifts : which, it seems to me, can not be understood 
only as intimating that when God brought in the pro- 
mise of redemption he instituted sacrifices as a type or 
representation of the atonement to be made in due time 
by his Son ; and that Abel, trusting in the promise, 
offered the sacrifices appointed and was accepted. 
Cain did not do this. He, instead of complying with 
the divine appointment in this respect, disregarded it, 
and in the place of a sacrifice brought of the fruit of 
the earth, and thus of course was rejected, because his 
offering could not typify the " shedding of blood for 
the remission of sins." So too take Abraham, who is 
also named in this connection, and of whom the apos- 
tle says, that while sojourning in the land of promise, 
8 



170 FAITH OF THE PATRIARCHS. 

the earthly Canaan pledged to his posterity, he yet 
looked for another country, " a city which hath foun- 
dations, whose builder and maker is God." This cer- 
tainly shows that something more than an earthly 
possession was promised to these patriarchs, and that 
their faith, referring to a coming Saviour, held up 
before them as a glorious destiny to be secured through 
him a future and blissful immortality. They appre- 
hended Christ as their complete Eedeemer. They 
believed that in him they should be saved from sin 
and all its consequences, and finally be brought to a 
better and more blessed state of existence beyond the 
grave. They sojourned here as in a strange land, 
looking .through the promises made to them in Christ 
for a better and more enduring inheritance. Thus they 
died in faith, not having received the promises, but 
were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and con- 
fessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the 
earth. 

But we see in the text also what kind of faith it was 
that the patriarchs thus exercised ; not only what they 
believed, but how they believed. And in regard to 
this point you will observe at once that their faith was 
composed of these three elements : perception, persua- 
sion, and reliance. They in the first place saw these 
promises afar off-— the meaning of which is that they 
perceived or understood them. They were aware not 
only that such promises had been made, but they were 
also aware of their import and design. They saw them 
in such a sense that they comprehended their meaning, 
and understood, if not the fullness, yet something of 
the reality and grandeur of the things they revealed. 



FAITH OF THE PATRIARCHS. 171 

They knew perfectly well who was Intended by "the 
seed of the woman ;" who it was in whom all the na- 
tions of the earth should be blessed ; and what great 
and glorious ends that blessing should encompass. 
They knew, not perhaps as perfectly, yet as surely and 
distinctly as the pious now, in whom they believed, 
and were as confident and joyous in their faith. 

But it is said that they were also persuaded of these 
promises. That is, they were truly and perfectly satis- 
fled with regard to them. They were persuaded of 
their truth, of the certainty of their fulfillment, and 
of the sufficiency of the Saviour whom they revealed ; 
they were persuaded indeed that in these promises 
there was life and hope and peace for them, and not 
for them only, but for all our race. It was no stum- 
bling-stone to them that these promises were afar off, 
nor did they on this account receive them with less 
gladness or contemplate them with less interest. They 
were satisfied that they would all in due time come to 
pass. They believed God, who made them, and they 
believed that he would not let his word fall to the 
ground. They had therefore no misgivings — no doubts, 
no fears, no disquietudes : they were persuaded, fully, 
firmly, savingly, persuaded of the promises. 

And then it is said also that they embraced them. 
The meaning of this is that they relied upon them. 
Seeing them and being satisfied with regard to them ; 
approving of them, and assenting readily and fully to 
them, they now relied upon them and trusted in them 
for acceptance and comfort. They trusted too directly 
and cordially, without hesitancy and without wavering. 
They were assured that there is divine power and infi- 



172 FAITH OF THE PATRIARCHS. 

nite mercy combined in the redeeming scheme con- 
tained in these promises, and they were consequently 
prepared to venture all upon them. They felt no 
reluctance, no reserve, but confided implicitly in them. 
They took them to their hearts, and, finding in them 
a Saviour and a hope of everlasting life, they with the 
heart believed in them unto righteousness. Thus their 
faith was not only an intellectual exercise, including a 
discernment and an assent to the truth, but it was also 
a spiritual exercise, including a direct and personal 
trust in the promises for pardon and salvation : thus 
by faith they saw the promises, were persuaded of them, 
and embraced them. 

And now if you will compare this particular state- 
ment of the faith of the patriarchs in the text with the 
apostle's general statement of faith in the first verse of 
the chapter, you will see how exactly it accords with 
it. "Now faith," he says, "is the substance of things 
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The pur- 
port of this is, that faith is something that gives reality 
in the view of the mind to things that can not be 
reached by the sense of sight. There are such things 
as these, spiritual and unearthly, lying, not in actual 
distance, but beyond the ken of material vision. They 
are things made known to us by Eevelation, and of 
which we should be in ignorance had not God an- 
nounced them. Faith now is that exercise of the mind 
that makes real to us these unseen things — as real as 
if indeed seen. It takes the word of God, credits it, 
and thus gains a view, sees, assents to, and embraces, 
spiritual and eternal things. Thus it makes real to the 
believer, God, heaven, a future state, Christ and re- 



FAITH OF THE PATMAKCHS. 173 

demption, and all that Glod has promised and declared 
in his communications with men. Thus it made real 
to the patriarchs the Mediator who was to come, and 
the "better country" for which they lived, and which 
amid all their wanderings they never forgot. Thus by 
it, according to Christ's own words, after his appear- 
ance, they rejoiced to see his day, they saw it and 
were glad. It was a reality to them, as much so as if 
he had actually appeared while they yet lived. Faith 
to them, resting upon the promises, seeing them afar 
off, assenting to them, and embracing them, was the 
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things 
not seen. 

II. This, then, is the nature of the patriarchs' faith. 
The next point now to which I direct your attention 
is the influence that their faith had over them. Some 
influence, I need not observe, it did indeed possess. 
You all understand that faith is a state or exercise of 
the mind of great and controlling power, and that it 
sways, directs, and governs all those who possess it. 
Eead this chapter before us, and if you have never 
been impressed with the mighty and molding influence 
of earnest faith in Glod, the striking illustrations here 
given can not fail so to impress you. You will see 
here that where there is faith there is surpassing moral 
force. 

What influence the faith of the patriarchs exerted 
over them may be clearly seen in the text. It is said 
that having faith, and living and acting under its 
guidance, they "confessed that they were strangers 
and pilgrims on the earth." Their faith then so influ- 



174 FAITH OF THE PATRIARCHS. 

enced them that the y lived a life of separation from the 
world, placed their affections on things above, and 
desired not and songht not their portion on earth. In 
other words, it led them to live for another world. 

Bnt let me particularly call your attention here to 
the word '! confessed." It obviously intimates that 
they entertained different views, and manifested differ- 
ent feelings, in respect to human life than generally 
prevail among men. It does not, however, intimate 
that faith made them what they proclaimed themselves 
to be ; for such in fact was not the case. They were 
strangers and pilgrims without faith, and so too were 
their cotemporaries, and so are all men. The unbe- 
liever is as truly so as the believer, and there is in this 
respect no difference between them. What is true of 
one in this particular is true of all : all must die, all 
are passing away. In a little while only all who ap- 
pear and live here are gone. The places that know 
them soon know them no more. The houses they 
occupy, the farms they cultivate, the friends they cher- 
ish, all soon miss them, and their names and deeds are 
all forgotten, and none remain to say any thing con- 
cerning them. As with the fathers so with the child- 
ren ; they are all sojourners, appearing for a time, then 
hastening away. But the difference between believers 
and others is, that the latter do not " confess," do not 
regard, and are not influenced in their deportment by 
this fact. So absorbed are they in the world — so busy 
with its pursuits, so attracted by its gains and pleas- 
ures, that they forget or at least keep out of mind, the 
truth that they are mortal and must die. It is true 
they know that it is so ; they can not doubt, and will 



FAITH OF THE PATRIARCHS. 175 

not dispute it ; but they do not consider, they do not 
act upon it. A fact, a certainty, coming swiftly upon 
them, and which they can not avert, yet it has no prac- 
tical influence upon their plans and purposes, and they 
go on in indifference as if it were a mere fiction of the 
imagination, or a frightful story for children. But it 
is not so with believers. It was not so with the patri- 
archs. While other men generally forgot and disre- 
garded the fact that they were to stay on earth but for 
a time, they confessed that they were pilgrims and 
strangers, that here they had no continuing city, that 
their proper business was to seek one to come. 

And you can easily imagine how it was that faith 
thus influenced their feelings, and gave this direction 
to their conduct. It led them to the promises of God, 
and those promises revealed to them a Saviour and a 
blessed future. It gave them too an interest in those 
promises, and made them feel that they were person- 
ally heirs of the saving mercy and glorious destiny 
unfolded by* them to our race. It detached them con- 
sequently from the world, elevated their affections to 
things eternal and heavenly, and impressed them with 
a suitable sense of the vanity and insecurity of things 
present and sublunary. Thus it spiritualized their 
feelings, sanctified their desires, and shaped and control- 
led their entire deportment : thus it led them to feel that 
this was not their rest, that there is a better inheritance 
beyond the grave for the good, and that that was the 
inheritance awaiting them. By faith they dwelt in 
tabernacles and tents, declaring that they sought an- 
other and a better country, that is, a heavenly — looking 
not at the things that are seen, but at the things that 



176 FAITH OF THE PATRIARCHS. 

are not seen, for the things that are seen are temporal, 
but the things that are not seen are eternal. 

III. But there is yet another point to which I desire 
to call your attention in this discourse : which is the 
correspondence of the faith of the patriarchs to the 
faith of Christians now. Nothing is more natural than 
to inquire, How does the faith exercised by good men 
under that and the Jewish dispensation agree with the 
faith exercised by good men under this dispensation ? 
Is it the same faith, or, if it differs, how does it differ ? 
This surely is not merely a curious and speculative 
question, but one of real interest and importance, and 
deserving therefore our consideration. 

Let me, then, remark, that the faith of (rod's people 
is in its nature always the same. It is a faith not only 
in him, but in Christ; in Christ, too, as a Saviour; and 
in him in such a sense as to interest its possessor, who- 
ever he is, and under whatever dispensation he lives, 
in the hope of future and everlasting life. It is a 
faith, then, in every case composed of the same pro- 
perties, and referring to the same object. In the case 
of the patriarchs, as we have seen, it was a faith in the 
promises of Grod, revealing a Eedeemer, and immor- 
tality and eternal blessedness through him. They had 
no idea of salvation except through Christ, and they 
looked forward to the day of his coming with joy, 
and trusted in the atonement he should make for sins 
as the only ground of acceptance and pardon. They 
believed Grod, who had given them the promises, and it 
was accounted to them for righteousness. In the case 
of Christians, it is a faith in this same atonement, not, 



FAITH OF THE PATKIAKCHS. 177 

indeed, in promise, but in actual fulfillment, and a faith, 
that sees this atonement, is persuaded of it, and em- 
braces it. Hence you see that it is the same faith exer- 
cised by the patriarchs, the same in its object and pro- 
perties, referring to the mercy of God in Christ, and 
apprehending, receiving, and relying upon this mercy 
for salvation. If there is any difference, it is only in 
degree. The Christian's faith is doubtless clearer and 
fuller than the faith of the patriarchs ; for he sees in 
fact and history, what they saw only in promise and 
prospect. He has more light, just as one who looks at 
the sun at noon-day sees more of its glory and radiant 
power than one who looks at it at early morn. Yet it 
is the same sun and the same light that they see, and 
it is under the same influence that they rejoice. So is 
it here, with, the patriarchs of old, and Christians now ; 
it is the same Saviour, the same sun of righteousness, 
to whom they look and come, only to the former he 
appeared in the dim light of the morning of redemp- 
tion, and to the latter he appears in the noontide glory 
of its perfect day. Now, as then, we look unto Jesus, 
the author and finisher of our faith — we look from the 
ends of the earth, and are saved. 

But it may be remarked further, in regard to this 
point, that the faith of Cod's people is always the same 
also in its influence. Its influence on the minds of the 
patriarchs has been already referred to. It separated 
them, we have seen, from the world, fixed their hopes 
and affections on heaven, and conducted them through 
life in noble acts of self-denial and piety ; in a word, 
it led them to confess that they were strangers and pil- 
grims on the earth. And its influence upon Christians 



178 FAITH OF THE PATEIARCHS. 

is precisely the same now. It forms in them the same 
frame of feeling, detaches them also from the world, 
and leads them to the same confession that this is not 
their home. "Here," in the language of the apostle, 
" they have no continuing city, but they seek one to 
come." In the language of the same apostle, they have 
set their affections on things above, not on things on 
the earth ; and they are dead to earth, and their lives 
are hid with Christ in Grod. They look not at the 
things that are seen, but at the things that are not 
seen; they deny themselves of all ungodliness and 
worldly lust, and live soberly, righteously, and godly, 
in this present evil world ; as pilgrims and strangers, 
they abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the 
soul, seeking to have their conversation honest among 
men, looking unto Christ, and desiring to depart and 
to be with him, which is far better. This is the natural 
and necessary influence of faith, wherever and in 
whomever it exists. It can not exist in any heart and 
leave that heart yet attached to the world. It can not 
go hand in hand with 'earthly desire, it can not blend 
with sordid sentiments, it can not build any hopes for 
this world. Its vision reaches far ahead into the fu- 
ture ; it lifts up the soul to the high and glorious por- 
tion of another state, and makes earth the place merely 
of a short pilgrimage to a better and more permanent 
abode. 

Thus, then, we see the correspondence of the faith 
of the patriarchs with the faith of believers now ; we 
see that it is one and the same. But it is time now for 
me to bring these reflections to a close. Let me simply 
ask, have you this faith ? Do you believe in the Lord 



FAITH OF THE PATKIAECH3. 179 

Jesus Christ ? Have you, by personal trust in him, a 
sure and well-grounded hope of everlasting life ? What 
a momentous question is this ! How far exceeding all 
other questions in importance to you and every man 
having an immortal soul ! In a little while you know 
you will all be gone : the news will go the round of 
your acquaintance, to your friends and your foes, that 
at such a time, and under such circumstances, you 
looked for the last time upon earth. But then, you 
know, too, that this, after all, is not with you the last; 
you know that 

" 'Tis not the whole of life to live, 
Nor all of death to die." 

There is most certainly another world : 

"Beyond this vale of tears, 
There is a life above, 
Unmeasured by the flight of years ; 
And all that life is love. 

%i There is a death, whose pang 
Outlasts the fleeting breath ; 
Oh ! what eternal horrors hang 
Around the second death! " 

You know this, and know it well. How important, 
then, is the question, Are you living for that world, or 
neglecting it for this ? Are you trusting in the blessed 
Bedeemer, who is the life, the truth, and the way — the 
only way to the better inheritance — or are you going 
on to eternity without an interest and a hope in Him ? 
It becomes you to consider this question thoughtfully, 
If the Bible is not a fiction, and Christianity a fable, 
you must be converted or be lost : you must come to 



180 FAITH OF THE PATRIARCHS. 

Christ now, or dej>art from him hereafter : you must 
believe in him and be saved, or, believing not, yon 
must be damned. Yon are pilgrims and strangers, and 
yon can not dwell long on these mortal shores ; yon 
mnst pass over to another state : the question is, what 
shall that state be to you ? Will you lay hold on hope 
through the adorable Saviour, or will you risk the fu- 
ture without him ? Have you pondered this question 
well, and have you thought of the consequences be- 
fore you ? Some of you have done this, and Christ is 
this day your portion. Be faithful unto death, and you 
shall receive a crown of life ; you will die in faith, and 
inherit the promises. But some of you have not ; you 
are careless and indifferent ; you are cavilling at the 
truth, and postponing the claims of eternity ; you are 
living as if you had no soul to save, no heaven to gain, 
no hell to shun. What shall I say to you ? Shall I 
remind you of the words of the prophet, " Behold, ye 
despisers, and wonder, and perish ! " or of the words of 
Christ : "Oh! that thou hadst known, even thou, at least 
in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace ! 
but now they are hid from thine eyes ! " Or shall I 
yet think that there is hope in your case, and, to en- 
courage and to warn you at once, remind you of the 
words of the apostle: "Now is the accepted time, and 
now is the day of salvation ! " Oh ! heed these words, I 
pray you, and now, " while it is called to-day, harden 
not your hearts." 

" Now is the accepted time, 
Now is the day of grace; 
Now, sinners, come without delay, 
And seek the Saviour's face." 



SERMON XI. 

BREVITY OF HUMAN" LIFE. 

For what is your life ? It is even a vapor that appeareth a little 
time, and then vanisheth away." James 4 : 14. 

We have all arisen in the morning, and in looking 
out on the world around us, have found its hills and 
dales, its brooks and meadows, covered with a dense 
and impenetrable mist; but when the sun has ad- 
vanced a little higher in his strength we have seen this 
vapor quickly broken and dispersed. So, says our 
text, is human life. " It is even a vapor that appear- 
eth a little time, and then vanisheth away." 

Men, however, are not inclined to consider nor act 
upon this truth. There are but few who would live 
as they do live were such indeed the case ; but few who 
would feel entirely satisfied with their present course, 
if this solemn consideration occupied the place it should 
do in their thoughts. The minds of men, naturally, 
discover nothing but what is gloomy and uninviting in 
this truth ; and but few are so spiritual as faithfully to 
draw near to it for spiritual improvement. We know 
it is true that we must die, for this all the living know ; 
but the theme is so repelling, and our hearts are so 
worldly, that we but seldom recur to it ; or if we do, it 
is with reluctance and haste. We are better suited 
with other and gayer thoughts. 



182 BEEVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 

For this reason we find the Holj Scriptures continu- 
ally and forcibly reminding us of this fact. The origi- 
nal sentence is in the first place clearly and solemnly 
recorded, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou 
return," and from that early point, on through the 
whole inspired volume, mankind are forewarned and ad- 
monished that they must die. They are even remon- 
strated with for their disregard and apparent forgetful- 
ness of so certain a destiny. ' ' Oh ! that they were wise ! 
that they understood this ! that that they would con- 
sider their latter end !" is the language in effect with 
which they are incessantly expostulating with us. 

I. In meditating on this subject a short time — -the 
brevity of human life — we may glance in the first place 
at the manner in which the Scriptures allude to it, and 
endeavor to impress us with it. Apart from its gen- 
eral announcements that "it is appointed unto men 
once to die," and that there is no possibility for any to 
escape, they represent the longest life as short, and the 
happiest as attended to some extent with misery. " Few 
and evil," said the patriarch Jacob, when an old man, 
just ready to be gathered to his fathers, "few and evil 
have been the days of the years of my pilgrimage." 
And agreeing with this are the general run and testi- 
mony of the Scriptures. " Man that is born of 
woman is of few days and is full of trouble. He com- 
eth forth like a flower and is cut down : he fleeth also 
as a shadow, and continueth not." Our days on earth 
are as a shadow, and there is none abiding. Our days 
are swifter than a weaver's shuttle. Our days are 
swifter than a post ; they fly away. They are passed 



BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 183 

away as swift ships', and as the eagle that hasteth to the 
prey. Man's days are as grass ; as the flower of the 
field so he fiourisheth : for the wind passes over it and 
it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more. 
Lord, thou hast been onr dwelling-place in all genera- 
tions. Before the mountains were brought forth, or 
ever thou hadst formed the earth or world, even from 
everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Thou turn- 
est man to destruction, andsayest, Eeturn, ye children of 
men. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as 
yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. 
Thou earnest them away as with a flood ; they are as 
a sleep ; in the morning they are like grass that groweth 
up. In the morning it fiourisheth and groweth iip : in 
the evening it is cut down and wither eth. Lord, make 
me to know my end and the measure of my days, what 
it is, that I may know how frail I am. Behold thou 
hast made my days as an hand-breadth, and my age is 
as nothing before thee : verily every man at his best 
state is altogether vanity. 

Such is the language — such are the figures and com- 
parisons, by which the Scriptures attempt to impress 
us with the shortness of life. Thus they would call off 
our attention from present and sensible objects and di- 
rect it to the world to come. Here, they seem in every 
line to say, here you have no continuing city ; there- 
fore seek one to come. 

II. In the next place, then let us notice the effect 
which this view of human life should have on our 
minds and conduct- 
It should impress us with a sense of our entire de- 



184 BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 

pendence upon God. He it is who thus abbreviates 
our life. He hath appointed it unto men once to die, 
and more than this, he hath appointed us our bounds 
that we can not pass. With him are the issues of life 
and death. He giveth us life and breath, and all things, 
and he has only to withhold his hand and we die. His 
sovereignty in this matter is forcibly represented by 
Job, when he says, "Behold, he taketh away, who can 
hinder him ? Or who can say unto him, "What doest 
thou?" and by the Psalmist: "Thou turnest man to 
destruction, and sayest, Eeturn, ye children of men." In 
the fact then that we must die, there is furnished us the 
lesson of our perfect dependence on God. And this is 
evidently a part of the design of the apostle in alluding 
to the brevity of life in the text. He says also in the 
context : " Whereas ye should say, if the Lord will, we 
shall live, and do this or that." He holds our life then 
in his hand : we live only as he wills it ; we die when 
he wills it. Solemn thought ! yet little regarded ! 

It should serve also to moderate our desires for 
worldly good. Is life so brief? At the longest so 
fleeting, and so certain to close ? Then what is this 
world to us ? What is there in it worthy the attention 
mankind so generally give it? Allowing that its 
acquisitions are ever so valuable in themselves, what is 
their relative value, seeing we must die ? Look at it 
for a moment. Here are worldly riches, surrounding 
you in abundance, and fortifying you against want! 
Here are worldly honors, flowing in upon you as a 
stream, and encircling your brow with glory and fame. 
Here are worldly pleasures, opening luxuriously before 
you, and satisfying your eyes and heart with all that 



BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 185 

splendor, and mirth, and gayety can impart. You 
have it all : yes, in these respects yon have gained the 
world ; but to-morrow you die — your wealth, your 
honors, your earthly delights, are all left behind you, 
for naked you came into this world and naked you 
must depart from it. What value now are all these 
things to you ? What value can they be to any man 
in the world of spirits ? And yet men live for these 
things as if they were the chief good. Surely, if 
the question, What is your life ? engaged as it should 
do their attention they would not do so. How insig- 
nificant are they all in connection with the thought 
that life is as a vapor ! 

And if I mistake not, the apostle designed to teach 
the lesson in this allusion to the shortness of life in the 
context: " Go to, now, ye that say, To-day or to-mor- 
row we will go into such a city and continue a year, 
and buy and sell and get gain, whereas ye know not 
what shall be on the morrow ; for what is your life ? 
it is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and 
then vanisheth away." 

The same lesson Paul teaches also, when he says of 
Christians, that they " look not at the things that are 
seen, bnt at the things that are not seen ; for the things 
that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not 
seen are eternal." Again: this view of human life 
should magnify in our estimate and desire the import- 
ance and value of things spiritual and eternal. Loosing 
our hold on earth, it should connect us more intimately 
with eternity. Discovering to us the insignificance and 
insufficiency of worldly good, it should impress us with 
a lively sense of the greatness and worth of the reali- 



186 BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 

ties before us. And this surely it can not fail to do, 
if we believe there is indeed a future existence awaiting 
us. If there is another state — and who is there that can 
doubt it ? — the thought that we are so soon to enter 
upon it, if properly regarded, must give importance and 
solemnity to its scenes and objects. It is because we 
do not consider, that we do not value these things more 
highly. How must they appear to the dying man ! 
How they appear to you at the grave of a friend, or in 
a season of trying sickness ! How would they appear 
to you this moment if you were certain that to-morrow 
you should behold them ! Then you would feel the 
poet's words: 

" Nothing is worth a thought beneath, 
But how I may escape that death 
That never, never dies." 

Then you would say of the world, it is vanity, and 
all the great powers and sensibilities of your soul would 
be in concern for the future. Then you would feel some- 
thing of their value and immense importance to you. 

It should lead us also to regard this life as properly 
employed only when connected in our plans and pursuits 
with the life to come. If life is so fleeting, and conse- 
quently worldly good so trivial, and eternal things so 
important, surely he only improves life who uses it in 
preparing for eternity. You may think but little of 
this remark, and yet the time is coming when you will 
find that it is true. You may now think that your 
time is well employed ; that in the accumulation of 
wealth, and the successful direction of large and noble 
business enterprises, you are laudably engaged, and are 
doing the great work of life ; but so sure as you are 



BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 187 

now living and must die, you will find at no distant 
period that if this has been your principal work life 
has been thrown away. Such industry does not save 
the soul, and will not provide for eternity. It will not 
weigh a feather in your favor at the bar of God, and 
will not assure your heart as from your dying-bed you 
survey the reckoning that awaits you. Houses and 
lands you may have in abundance ; all that this world 
can afford to make you comfortable and happy, may 
flow in rich and ready supplies irpon you, but if you 
have lived for these things, and been worldly and un- 
spiritual, not all your skill and activity can give you 
one pleasant thought as you leave this world, or when 
you stand at the judgment. He only improves life who 
lives religiously : who connects it with the future ; who, 
in all his plans and business, remembers that he is a 
dying man and that his chief work is to prepare for 
eternity. All others squander and misuse it as to the 
great end of life ; all others will discover at last that 
they have lived in folly, and must die in poverty ; a 
poverty too momentous to be described, relating to the 
soul, and embracing eternity ; a poverty fitly referred 
to in the lamentation, " The harvest is past, the summer 
is ended, and we are not saved." 

Different views than these might be entertained of 
the present life, if it were never to end, or if its end 
were all. Then we might live for this world, and be 
wise ; but as it is not so, we can not do this without 
folly and ruin. Let us then awake from our apathy 
and deception — let us .. break away from the entangle- 
ments and attractions of earth — let us remember the 
immortal destiny before us, and according to the no- 
bility of our nature and hopes live and prepare for it. 



SERMON III. 

OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 

"Bot I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning 
them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others -which hare 
no hope." 1 Thessaloxians 4 : 13. 

"We live, my brethren, in a world of affliction. 
There are none who do not find it so to some extent, 
and there are many who do find it so from an experi- 
ence deep and unutterable. But of all the afflictions 
of earth there is to none of us, perhaps, any so severe 
and overwhelming as the loss by death of friends. 
This, more than any other, touches the tender strings 
of the soul, and fills us with emotions of bitterness and 
grief. This, so to speak, drinks up our spirit, reduces 
and saddens all our pleasures, and spreads over every 
thing around us the dark veil of melancholy and 
gloom. 

This is an affliction, moreover, that the world itself 
can not relieve. It is true the mellowing hand of time 
may work some abatement of immediate grief, and fit 
us for a more cheerful attendance upon the duties of 
life ; but while the affliction is yet recent, and the feel- 
ings fresh, and when, even after the lapse of months 
and years, memory revives it and brings it near, there 
is not in all the world any pleasure that can remove 
our sadness, any light that can gild our gloom. TVe 



OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 189 

may apply to all its sources of strength and consola- 
tion ; we may inquire with a solicitude and eagerness 
which none but ourselves can appreciate, Is there no 
help for us — no ray of hope — no balm of comfort? 
and in the secret, the dreary, the sorrowful chambers 
of the soul, the response will be heard, and it will be 
felt: none! there is none! Earth has no words of en- 
couragement under circumstances like these. It has 
no radiance for the grave, it has no gladness for the 
bereaved. 

But what the world can not do for us in this respect, 
Christianity, let us bless Grod, can do. Here there is 
consolation for all the afflicted, even for those who 
have parted with their nearest and dearest friends. 
Particularly is this the case when those friends have 
been eminent for piety and their devotedness to Christ. 
Christianity assures us, with regard to such, that they 
have been removed to a better state, and that we, hav- 
ing the same precious faith, and following in the same 
footsteps, shall not always be separated from them. 
They shall not return to us, but we shall go to them. 
They are not, It assures us, then, lost : they are gone, 
gone a little before, but not lost. We have parted with 
them, but it is not forever ; we mourn over them, but 
it is not without hope. 

And this, under the subduing sorrow of an affliction 
so great, is precisely the consolation that we need. 
Nothing else can satisfy and sustain us. We want to 
know that our friends who have departed from us are 
themselves safe ; and we want to know that at some 
time in the long future we shall see them again. And 
ail this we are brought to know from the revelations of 



190 OUR DEPARTED BRIEND3. 

Christianity. This has brought life and immortality to 
light, and this furnishes us the delightful assurance 
that there is something further and better for us beyond 
the grave. 

The apostle intimates, you will also observe, in the 
text, that it is from Christianity alone that this conso- 
lation cau be derived. For, in advising us of our pri- 
vilege, that we need not, like others, mourn without 
hope, he indirectly suggests the deplorable condition 
of those on whom the light of Christianity has not yet 
shone. They do, indeed, mourn without hope. When 
they bury their kindred, it is without any certain know- 
ledge or definite expectation that they shall ever see 
them again. They know nothing of the resurrection, 
and even the future existence of the soul is to them a 
dim and doubtful truth. All, when they come to the 
grave, and deposit there the treasures of friendship and 
affection, is deep and impenetrable darkness. They 
have, it is true, their thoughts about another state; 
they desire, and they can partly hope, that there is im- 
mortality beyond death for man ; but whether it is so, 
and if so, what the circumstances are under which it 
shall be experienced, these are points in regard to 
which they have no settled form nor basis of belief. 
"Without the Grospel they are emphatically without 
hope; dark, benighted, miserable. 

But with us it is not so. We have a sure source of 
light and consolation. We have a Eevelation assuring 
us of things that they know not, emanating from the 
fountain of truth, at once clear and infallible. Let us, 
then, attend for a few moments, as on this occasion it 
will be appropriate for us to do, to the comfort that 



OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 191 

Christianity affords us with respect to our departed 
pious friends. "I would not have you to be ignorant," 
says the inspired apostle, " concerning them that are 
asleep ;" that is, I would not have you ignorant of their 
present condition, nor of their coming destiny; their 
present condition as disembodied and happy spirits, 
nor of the glorious portions that await them at the ap- 
pearing of Christ. And then he adds, " that ye sorrow 
not even as others without hope ;" that is, not being in 
darkness, as are the heathen, respecting the departed, 
you must not, like them, mourn in despair ; but you 
must be 'comforted, knowing that it is well with your 
pious friends, and that it shall also be well with you. 
I propose, then, in addressing you at this time, to 
advert to the reflections which the Christian Kevela- 
tion suggests, and authorizes us to entertain, in regard 
to our friends who have died in the Lord ; and which 
from their nature are so well calculated to console and 
sustain us. 

I. First, then, I remark that this revelation war- 
rants us to believe that our departed friends yet live. 
It is true, according to the dialect of earth, they are 
dead. The sentence, "Dust thou art, and unto dust 
shalt thou return," has been executed upon them. Grod 
has changed their countenance and sent them away. 
They have gone to the house appointed to all living, 
the dark, the low, the narrow house of the grave. But 
it is equally true that they still live. The soul, the 
higher and better part of our nature, the part that 
thinks and feels, and makes the man, and that inhabits 
the body as its corporeal tenement merely, this has not 



192 OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 

returned with the body to dust, but has gone to God 
who gave it. It is the materialist only who thinks of 
the soul as extinct at death, or as slumbering in un- 
consciousness with the body in the grave. The Scrip- 
tures hold out to us a better and a brighter view. 
They assure us of what reason and true philosophy 
are found cord ially to approve, that we have an imma- 
terial as well as a material nature ; and that these, 
though mysteriously united, are perfectly distinct. 
They assure us, too, that when we are called to depart 
this life, the spirit does not go down with the body to 
silence and forgetfulness, but actually departs: it leaves 
the body, leaves earth, and enters in full possession of 
its consciousness and powers into another state of be- 
ing. Though away, and perhaps far away, it yet ex- 
ists ; it yet acts, and thinks, and feels. Were it neces- 
sary, we could adduce many declarations of Holy 
Writ bearing on these points, and fully and incontesta- 
bly establishing them. As it is, let us allude to a few, 
and by these revive within us this grateful recollection 
of the dead. 

Solomon, then, in language nearly identical with 
that we have employed, says, in speaking of death : 
" Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was ; 
and the spirit shall return to Grod who gave it." Christ, 
who declared himself that he is greater than Solomon, 
says, in speaking of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who 
had been dead for generations, that they are now alive. 
" He is not," says he, " the Grod of the dead, but of the 
living." Paul, too, in addressing his brethren of the 
Church of Corinth, teaches the same truth. "For we 
know," he says, "that if the earthly house of our tab- 



OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 193 

ernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a 
bouse not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed 
upon with our house which is from heaven : If so be 
that being clothed upon we shall not be found naked. 
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being bur- 
dened; not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed 
upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 
Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing 
is Grod, who also hath given us the earnest of the Spirit. 
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that while 
we are at home in the body we are absent from the 
Lord : (For we walk by faith, not by sight :) We are 
confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from 
the body, and to be present with the Lord." Surely 
this language implies that the soul is distinct from the 
body, and lives after it is dead ; that while the body is 
sleeping quietly in the grave, the soul is active and 
awake, removed to another and a higher sphere, cloth- 
ed with its immortal consciousness and energy. 

Again, the apostle declares, in another epistle, and 
in language nearly corresponding with this, that he was 
in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and 
be with Christ, which is far better than to continue in 
the flesh ; and also in the same connection that to live 
was Christ, and to die was gain. The apostle Peter 
also speaks in the same manner. "I think it meet," 
he says, " as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you 
up by putting you in remembrance; knowing that 
shortly I must put off this tabernacle, even as our 
Lord' Jesus Christ hath showed me." The apostle 
John, too, in the closing book of the New Testament, 
9 



194 OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 

furnishes the most abundant testimony that the de- 
parted are yet living. In one place he declares that 
he saw in his vision the souls of those who had been 
martyred for Jesus. In another place he declares that 
he saw a great company, and that an angel informed 
him that they were those who had come out of great 
tribulation, and washed their robes, and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb. He declares, again, 
that he heard a voice from heaven, and that the voice 
said to him: "Write, Blessed are the dead that die in 
the Lord from henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that 
they may rest from their labors ; and their works do 
follow them." In these, and a multitude of similar 
declarations, there is clear and certain evidence that the 
spirits of the departed exist in a state of separation 
from the body. Particularly in the last quotation, 
where it is said that the pious dead are blessed from 
henceforth, from the very hour and moment of their 
departure, is the evidence marked and striking. But 
all these are only a small part of the allusions and testi- 
mony of Scripture touching this subject ; and it may be 
truly said, that if any subject has been clearly and satis- 
factorily settled by the declarations of inspiration, this 
is that subject. 

This, then, is our consolation. Our friends who 
have been removed in the providence of God from 
the present state of being, are still living in some 
other place in his vast dominions. Where this place 
is, we may not know ; and it is true we do not. We 
only know the name and character ascribed to it. God 
has not seen fit to define its location, and we can not 
cast our eye or thought on any part of the universe, 



OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 195 

and imagine with any definiteness of apprehension that 
it is there. But wherever it is, we know that out friends 
who have died in Christ are there. They are not in 
the grave, they are there. Though dead, they yet live. 
And consoling indeed is this reflection. Our loved 
ones, though they have passed away, have not passed 
into nonentity. "We are not doomed to the sad and 
dreary suspicion that their existence has now termi- 
nated ; that this is the last they shall ever know, or be 
known ; that henceforth they shall be as though they 
had never been. No : we do not mourn thus without 
hope. The pure and lovely spirits of these dear friends 
are more active, and vigorous, and joyous in their being 
than ever; and we can not think of them as thus trans- 
lated to a higher state, without some comfort in our 
bereavement and sorrow. 

II. But I remark, secondly, that Christianity war- 
rants us to believe, not only that our departed friends 
are yet living, but that they have gone to live in a 
more immediate sense with God. In some sense they 
are with God here ; and so, too, are we all ; for he is 
omnipresent, being at all times in all places, surround- 
ing us wherever we go and whatever we do. The 
pious may be said even here to be with God, also, be- 
cause they are the subjects of his special favor, and 
are blessed with a peculiar sense of his presence and 
protection. But there is a more immediate sense still 
in which the pious who have departed this life are with 
God now. They are directly with him. They have 
gone to the world where he has fixed his special abode, 
and where he manifests in some glorious form his 
special and visible presence. 



196 OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 

The Scriptures are very clear in those representa- 
tions from which we deduce this inference. They dis- 
tinctly instruct us that there is such a world as that 
referred to ; that God, though he is omnipresent, is es- 
pecially there. It is true, they tell us, in reference to 
his infinity, that the heavens, and the heaven of hea- 
vens, can not contain him ; but then they also tell us, 
in reference to some particular and personal manifesta- 
tion of himself, that he dwells in the high and holy 
place, and looks down from his habitation upon the 
children of men. It would be impossible, indeed, to 
understand much of the Holy Scriptures, to attach any 
definite signification to many of their allusions, without 
a recognition of this sublime truth. If it is not so, a 
good part of what they say becomes weak and un- 
meaning verbiage. But it is so. God has his special 
abode. There is in his immense dominions some fa- 
vored place where he dwells in some peculiar and visi- 
ble glory. There the angels live and rejoice in his 
presence. To that place Enoch and Elijah were trans- 
lated, that they should not see death ; and there, in the 
language of the apostle, are " the spirits of just men 
made perfect." 

And not only do the Scriptures instruct us that 
there is such a world as this, but that thither all the 
pious go when they leave this world. The language 
of the apostle just quoted, positively proves this ; and 
much more might be adduced equally decisive. But 
it is enough : it plainly shows us that the righteous 
dead have gone to God. 

And this is a further consolation we have in think- 
ing of those who have been taken from us. God has 



OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 197 

taken them immediately to himself. They now behold 
him without a vail between. They dwell in his own 
habitation. They are safe, forever safe, in his divine 
embrace Surely there is comfort in this. Surely, it is 
better for the dear objects of our affection that they 
should be in heaven than on earth : better that they 
should be so intimately near to their Father there than 
to be in comparative exile from him here. And if we 
could only take into our minds this grand conception ; 
if we could calmly apprehend what it is to be with 
God, and could look out above the dimness and vague- 
ness that so becloud our vision, we should see indeed, 
and should rejoice in seeing, that it is thus better with 
them. We should see that there is an infinite meaning 
in the words so frequently spoken of the dead, that our 
loss is their gain. And we would be willing to bear 
our loss, to submit in resignation to the privation of 
beholding them no more in this world, or enjoying any 
longer their counsel and sympathy, when thus made 
to understand how happy an exchange they have made, 
and how indescribably blessed is the state into which 
they have passed. Yes, our departed friends have gone 
to Grod, and we will think of them hereafter as enjoy- 
ing without intervening distance or obscurations the 
smiles and felicities of his immediate presence. 

III. But I remark, further, that Christianity warrants 
us to believe that our departed friends have gone to 
live with Christ. In entering upon this contemplation 
there is a preliminary thought to be borne in mind. 
It is that though Christ, as our glorious Mediator, pos- 
sesses a higher and divine nature, yet he possesses also 



198 OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 

a human nature, and in this respect is truly and literally 
man. " He took not on him the nature of angels, but 
He took on him the seed of Abraham." " He made 
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form 
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man." 
" For this cause He is not ashamed to call us brethren." 
He is then, you perceive, a man like ourselves. The 
only difference is, he is pure and perfect, and not like 
ourselves sinful and corrupt: "For He knew no sin, 
neither was guile found in his mouth." He was the 
just, suffering for the unjust Still he is man, our 
brother, our kinsman, our fellow. 

And now the use I wish to make of this thought is, 
that Christ, after living, and suffering, and dying in this 
nature, with it arose from the grave and ascended into 
heaven. Hence we read that he has ascended up on 
high, has passed into the heavens, has forever sat down 
at the right hand of God, and that God has highly ex- 
alted him, and given him a name that is above every 
name. We read that Stephen, when he was dying 
under a shower of stones from his persecutors, actually 
saw him at the right hand of God ; and that John, in 
the superhuman visions afforded him on the isle of 
Patmos, beheld also his radiant form, and that, over- 
come by his glory, he fell down before him. "We read 
too that having thus ascended and been glorified he is 
now alive for evermore. 

And noiv I remark that it is to Christ thus exalted 
in his humanity, thus returned to his glory, the glory 
he had with the Father before the world was, that our 
believing friends have gone. And surely in this con- 
templation we have the basis of true and solid consola- 



OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 199 

tion with regard to them. There is satisfaction in the 
thought that they have gone to Christ ; that he, their 
once crucified but now risen Master, has taken them to~ 
himself; and that hereafter they shall dwell in near 
and blissful companionship with him forever. When 
Christ was upon earth he solemnly assured his disci- 
ples that this should be the reward of their fidelity to 
him ; and his promise refers not only to them, then 
living, but to all who should subsequently follow in 
their steps. "Let not," said he, "your heart be 
troubled : ye believe in God, believe also in me. In 
my Father's house are many mansions ; if it were not 
so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for 
you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will 
come again and receive you to myself; that where I 
am ye may be also." And in connection with this 
promise, on the same interesting occasion, he offered up 
to his Father this prayer: "Father, I will that they 
also whom thou hast given me be with me where I 
am ; that they may behold my glory which thou hast 
given us." Here obviously is the indication, nay, the 
assurance, the pledge, that Christ intends to gather to 
himself all those who truly believe in him. He does 
this, individually, as they one by one leave the world, 
and he will do it officially, and in concourse, at the 
judgment of the great day. His love to them, his 
interest in them, and his care and sufferings for them, 
all conspire to render him desirous that they should be 
near to him ; and it is the reward the Father has pro- 
mised him for his toil to redeem us, that he shall in 
this way bring many sons to glory. 

We find, too, that the early disciples of Christ were 



200 OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 

cheered and supported by this expectation to endure 
with patience the trials and persecutions to which they 
were called. They knew that they should soon be 
with Christ, where these annoyances would affect them 
no more. Hence Stephen, to whom we have referred, 
suffered his fate in peace, knowing that he would im- 
mediately join the Saviour at the right hand of God. 
So too Paul endured all his tribulations, believing that 
as soon as his work -was done he should go and be with 
Christ. He spoke also of his desire to depart, declar- 
ing his conviction that it would be better for him than 
to remain in the flesh. To. the Corinthians, in language 
before quoted, he said, including not only himself, but 
all believers : " We are confident therefore, and willing 
rather to be absent from the body, and present with 
the Lord." He did not entertain the opinion, surely, 
from this, that the soul at death sinks into unconscious- 
ness till the resurrection ; nor even the opinion ad- 
vanced by some, that there is an intermediate place to 
which the spirits of the departed go ; but be believed 
that upon death the righteous immediately enter 
heaven, and enjoy the society and personal presence 
of Christ. And this too was obviously the belief of 
all the apostles, and saints of the New Testament. 
Peter rejoiced in the same expectation, and so did 
John, and they all. They kept this bright prospect 
continually in view ; and when pursued to prison and 
to death for the name of their Master, they were sus- 
tained by the assurance that the cruelty that thus re- 
moved them from earth only removed them the sooner 
to the glorious mansions he had gone to prepare for 
them. 



OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 201 

And when we reflect upon this, we can not fail to 
find comfort with reference to our pious friends who 
have left us. Christ prayed that they might be with 
him, and he promised that they shall be. We see too 
that his inspired apostles believed and taught that, as 
soon as Christians leave the world, they go to experi- 
ence the reality and blessedness of this promise. We 
may therefore rejoice, knowing that our friends who 
have lived to Christ and died in him are where he is, 
beholding his glory. They see him, literally, in all 
his beauty and loveliness, and they enjoy in unspeak- 
able fullness the pure felicity of his personal and fami- 
liar presence. On earth they used to sing : 

"I long to behold him arrayed 

With glory and light from above, 
The King in his beauty displayed, 
His beauty of holiest love." 

And now they reap the rich harvest of their desire, 
and realize the complete fruition of their hope. Let 
us not, then, mourn nor murmur that they are gone. 
They are where, when here, they longed to be ; and 
are enjoying the blessedness for which they labored, 
and suffered, and prayed. They are with Christ, which 
is far better. " They shall hunger no more, neither 
thirst any more, neither shall any sun light on them, 
nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst 
of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto 
living fountains of water ; and God shall wipe away 
all tears from their eyes." 

IV. But I remark, further still, that Christianity 
warrants us to believe that our pious friends have gone 



202 OUK DEPARTED FRIENDS. 

to the society of similar pure and happy spirits. When 
we consider what has just passed under our contempla- 
tion — that heaven is the peculiar abode of the Deity, 
and that Christ in his glorified humanity is there, we 
shall comprehend at once that it is a place of holy and 
hallowed society. None are admitted there but such 
as are approved by the eye of Infinite Purity, and none 
could find any enjoyment there, or entertain a desire 
to remain there, but such as have a character in har- 
mony and sympathy with it. Hence we are distinctly 
informed that nothing that is unclean shall ever enter 
there, and that all the inhabitants of that blessed world 
delight, from congeniality of nature, in its services, and 
find the richest satisfaction in its sacred and spiritual 
pursuits. 

Among the inhabitants of that happy world there are, 
in the first place, the angels ; those pure and lovely 
beings who existed before the creation of the earth, 
and who, when the Almighty had formed it, and beau- 
tified it, and placed man upon it, sang and shouted for 
joy. Then there are all the redeemed who have left 
our world, and who through the merits and mediation 
of Christ have been fitted for the company and employ- 
ment of angels. The patriarchs are there, and the pro- 
phets and apostles. There too are the saints of later 
days — hundreds " whose praise is in all the churches," 
and thousands whose humble and fragrant piety blessed 
the neighborhoods in which they lived, and whose 
names are in the Lamb's Book of Life. They form a 
vast company, and they are the best and the most 
worthy of our race. And what a community must 
that be, composed of beings like these! Angels! 



OUR DEPAETED FRIENDS. 203 

and human spirits made partakers of angelic purity ! 
And yet, my brethren, this is the community to which 
those of our kindred and acquaintance have gone, 
who have died in the Lord. They are now mingling 
with this happy and heavenly throng. They have 
found in perfection the society they most relished and 
enjoyed on earth, and they are admitted to the high 
privilege of forming a part, and of increasing the joy- 
fulness, of the holy and rejoicing throng. 

And in this connection we should remember that 
our departed friends have gone to meet those whom 
they formerly knew and loved on earth. They once 
mourned over dear ones taken from them, as we now 
mourn over them. Once they knew the sorrow of 
bereavement as well as do we. Either in the circle of 
their kindred, or of their pious and pleasant acquaint- 
ances, some near to their hearts, and strongly enthroned 
in their affections, had been torn away from them, 
and carried to the world of spirits. Now they have 
gone to join them. As soon as they entered the hea- 
venly world, undoubtedly, they inquired after them, or 
were immediately welcomed by them. There they 
know each other again, and renew the friendship of 
earth under better and more congenial circumstances. 
The tears of separation are all wiped away, and though 
they have left friends behind to shed the same tears 
over them, they have found friends where they have 
gone who are made happier by their arrival. Blessed 
indeed must it be for loved friends thus to meet ! 

And is there nothing in all this to administer conso- 
lation to our wounded hearts ? Our friends have not 
left us, to go to some strange and lonely land, to dwell 



204 OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 

there in solitude, or to mix with unknown and uncon- 
genial beings. No : they have gone to the home of 
the pure ; to their Father's house and family ; and 
there before this they have rejoined those whom they 
loved and prized on earth, and formed other and 
equally endearing associations. Their society, we see, 
is the best and the choicest of the universe ; and we 
know that nothing shall ever occur to sever them from 
this society, or to interrupt or alloy their enjoyment in 
it. We will not therefore wish them back. Though 
they have left us, and numerous friends, below, they 
have found other and more perfect friends above. 
There then let them stay, enjoying with all their other 
felicities the social scenes and holy friendships of that 
bright and joyful land. 

Y. But I remark once more, and in conclusion to 
these reflections, that Christianity warrants us to be- 
lieve that, though our friends have found better society 
above, they yet retain their affection and sympathy for 
us. They do not in the advanced state to which they 
have been removed, and I may add, they can not, for- 
get us. They carry with them their intelligence, their 
memory, their benevolent feelings. They would have 
to cease to be intelligent beings, to lose their identity, 
and to undergo an entire transformation, not only of 
character, but of nature, in order to forget us. And 
their affection and continued interest in us are as cer- 
tain as their recollection of us. If they are yet living 
and thinking, they think of us ; and if they think of 
us still, they love us still. I know that one of the 
votaries of poesy has referred to this subject doubt- 



OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 205 

ingly, and lias started an anxious, and perhaps a some- 
what melancholy inquiry in regard to it : 

" But tell us, thou bird of the solemn strain, 

Can those who have loved forget ? 
We call — but they answer not again — 

Do they love — do they love us yet ? 
We call theru far through the silent night, 

And they speak not from cave or hill ; 
We know, thou bird ! that their land is bright, 

But say, do they love there still ?" 

But though the poet in the sweet sadness of her spirit 
has spoken thus in an inquiring strain, Eevelation 
speaks out assuredly, and answers, and says, Yes: 
they do think of us there, and do love us there, still. 
They teach us enough in relation to the future to 
justify us in believing this ; and sound philosophy 
establishes our belief. We can not, therefore, and will 
not, doubt it. Those who have passed on before us 
do as certainly remember us as we do them. The 
recollection, and consequent tender and kindly feelings, 
are mutual — as natural as the daily pleasant thoughts 
of friends separated by the wide ocean, and for a time 
dwelling in different countries on the earth. No one 
would suppose that this separation must result in for- 
getfulness or unconcern; but on the other hand, we 
all know that such a result is impossible. Loved ones 
under such circumstances frequently meet each other 
in mutual and kind reflection. And so it is with friends 
divided by the river of death. "We on this side need 
not vaguely wonder if those who have preceded in the 
passage ever send back a thought or a wish in refer- 
ence to us ; but we have reason to believe that thev 



206 OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 

do. Whether, through the medium of their spiritual 
vision, it is possible for them to look through the inter- 
vening distance and see us; or whether, as is more 
probable, they hear from us by messengers passing 
between earth and heaven — these are points which we 
may not be able to settle ; but they do not in any way 
affect the consideration we have under review. It is 
still certain that they are the same beings ; and that 
they are still our friends. Even the lost, Christ in- 
structs us in his parable of the rich man and Lazarus, 
retain a recollection and an anxious concern for their 
kindred on earth ; and may we not assume that those 
who have gone to the better land, whose affections 
have been elevated and purified, and separated from 
the dross of selfishness and sin, retain in their thoughts 
and sympathy those whom they have loved and left ? 
Certainly there is no superstition in this, certainly it is 
not to be characterized as visionary or poetical. It is 
sober and rational truth — the dictate of reason, of 
philosophy, of religion. 

And if this is so, then have we an additional thought 
to comfort us in the grief and bitterness of bereavement. 
It is truly a consolation to reflect that while the friends 
of our heart have been removed far from us, we yet 
live in their memory and affection ; that while we send 
our thoughts forward to them, they send theirs back 
to us; that while we yet cherish their names, they 
cherish ours. It is truly a consolation to believe that 
while we can not, and would not, forget them, that 
while we often muse on their memories and excellences ; 
that while we tenderly call them up to our mind, in the 
pleasant homes once made bright with their presence, 



OUR DEPARTED FRIENDS. 207 

but now lonely because they return to them no more ; 
in the sanctuary of the Most High whither we often 
went with them in company, and where we often bowed 
with them in prayer and praise ; and in the silent cem- 
etery, by the side of the very graves where their mor- 
tal part is reposing — it is truly a consolation to believe 
they can not, and would not, forget us, but as fre- 
quently and tenderly recur to their former intimacy 
and companionship with us. It is a consolation to 
know that thus we remain dear to them, as they do to 
us : that it is indeed true " they love us still." 

But I must hasten to a close. There are several 
other reflections which it was my intention to refer to, 
and to incorporate in this discourse ; but which, from 
the pressure of time, I must leave unconsidered. I will 
only say that I particularly intended to allude to the 
resurrection ; and to show from the hope Christianity 
inspires respecting even the buried bodies of our friends 
that we have great cause to comfort ourselves in our 
sorrow for them. I intended also to make allusion to 
the consoling fact, that, though our departed friends 
shall not return to us, we, at no distant day, shall go 
to them. I call this a consoling fact ; for though there 
is nothing pleasing in the thought that we must die, 
there is something pleasing in the thought that beyond 
death there is a bright and blissful land where we shall 
meet those who have preceded us, and are at rest. 
But these, and whatever other considerations might 
have been referred to, we must for the present dismiss. 
Enough, however, has been said to furnish a ground of 
sustaining comfort and becoming resignation to every 
bereaved and bleeding heart. Let me, then, my afflicted 



208 OUE DEPARTED FRIENDS. 

friends, encourage you to look up, and to open your 
oppressed and grieving minds to the genial influence 
of these inspiring suggestions. In a little while the 
strife and sorrow of earth will all be over. Christ will 
gather to himself all his true people, and they shall 
rest from their labors, and go no more out forever. 



SERMON XIII. 

THE COVETOUS EICH MAN. 

" But God said unto him, Thou fool ! this night thy soul shall be 
required of thee : then whose shall those things be, which thou hast 
provided?" Luke 12 : 20. 

This text is a part of one of onr Lord's interesting 
parables. The occasion of the parable, and its design, 
are suggested in the verses which immediately precede 
it. "And one of the' company said unto him, Master, 
speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance 
with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me 
a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto 
them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness : for a 
man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things 
which he possesseth." From this it appears that the 
design of the parable was to condemn and correct the 
common spirit of covetousness. To accomplish this 
design, He says: " The ground of a certain rich man 
brought forth plentifully: And he thought within him- 
self, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room 
where to bestow my fruits ? And he said, This will I 
do : I will pull down my barns, and build greater ; and 
there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And 
I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid 
up for many years ; take thine ease, eat, drink, and 
be merry. But Grod said unto him, Thou fool, this 



210 THE COVETOUS EICH MAN. 

night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose 
shall those things be, which thou hast provided ? So 
is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not 
rich toward God." 

In this parable now you will observe two things. 
In the first place the man here referred to was rich. 
In the providence of God prosperity had smiled upon 
him. His toil had been abundantly blessed, his plans 
had all succeeded, and suddenly, and almost by sur- 
prise, he finds himself surrounded not only with suffi- 
ciency, but with abundance. In the next place, having 
this great wealth, instead of acknowledging the hand 
of God in its bestowment, and regarding himself as 
merely the steward of it, he sets his heart upon it, and 
loves it. Hence we hear him inquiring: " Where shall 
I bestow all my goods ?" Not, How shall I use my 
goods ? How may I best employ them in glorifying 
God and making myself useful to my fellow-men? 
No : but, "Where shall I safely deposit them ? Where 
can I best hoard them? How can I enjoy them the 
most and the longest ? 

Now as just such men are to be found all around us, 
in this and every community, the parable is of import- 
ance to us as indicating the light in which such men 
are regarded by God. In the estimation of the world 
they are accounted wise and honorable ; a eulogy is 
pronounced upon them ; and they are held up as 
worthy examples of imitation. In the eyes of God, 
however, the Searcher of hearts, and the Judge of the 
world, they are esteemed unwise and wicked. Our 
text is the utterance of his judgment respecting them : 
" But God said, Thou fool ! this night thy soul shall 



THE COVETOUS RICH MAN. 211 

be required of thee : then whose shall those things be, 
which thou hast provided ?" 

The design I have in view in the contemplation of 
this parable at this time is to consider the folly of this 
covetous rich man. In doing this I shall endeavor to 
show, first, what his folly consisted in ; and secondly, 
what its consequences were. 

I. What did the folly of this man consist in ? I 
answer, it did not consist in his being rich. Wealth in 
itself is a blessing ; or it is at least so' if not perverted 
and turned away from the object God had in view in 
bestowing it. Hence they who have riches should not 
despise them ; neither should they despise them who 
have them not. When obtained honestly, and not as 
the wages of unrighteousness, they are the gifts of 
Divine Providence, and should be so esteemed and so 
employed. In the possession of wealth, then, there is 
no sin ; if there was, it would never come in the way 
of honest effort, and God would never confer it. 

Nor again did the folly of this man consist in his 
active and industrious exertions to obtain riches. I 
know you may say that these exertions indicate a 
desire on his part for worldly wealth, and that in this 
way he seems to exhibit a sordid and ungodly charac- 
ter. But to this I reply that the desire to obtain 
worldly good does not always exhibit a sordid charac- 
ter, nor flow from an ungodly heart. It is generally 
so, as the world now is, it must be conceded ; but then 
it is not necessarily so. It is possible for an individual 
to desire riches with pure feelings and for a laudable 
purpose. Such is certainly the case when the eye is 



212 THE COVETOUS RICH MAN. 

single to the glor y of God ; when the desire and design 
is to have the means to do good and to communicate, 
and to advance the cause of human happiness and sal- 
vation. Hence, abstractly considered, we do not see 
in the activity and industry of this man to improve his 
temporal condition any sin or folly. There is such a 
thing as being diligent in business while we are fervent 
in spirit ; and if the former state of mind and habit of 
life do not exclude the latter, we may be still serving 
the Lord. 

The question then recurs, Wherein was this man's 
folly ? It may be replied in general, that it consisted 
in the state of his mind with respect to his riches. 
Though he might have had riches without sinning ; 
though he might have been strongly solicitous and ac- 
tively engaged to accumulate without sinning, yet such 
was the state of his mind that this was not the case. 
There was sin in him ; he did manifest the most egre- 
gious folly. We shall see this very definitely and 
implicitly when we notice for a moment what the con- 
dition of his mind in regard to his worldly circum- 
stances was. 

1. And we can not give our attention to this point 
a moment without discovering the supreme apprecia- 
tion with which his riches were regarded. It is at 
once obvious that he placed upon them a value and 
an interest which they did not and could not deserve. 
Like all covetous men, he over-estimated and over- 
prized them. He entertained an opinion concerning 
them that no man should entertain concerning any 
thing of a temporal or worldly nature. He placed his 
heart upon them as his chief good. There was nothing 



THE COVETOUS RICH MAN. 213 

higher or more sacred in all the desires and aspirations 
of his soul. He considered himself to have reached, 
or as being in the way to reach, all that his immortal 
nature could need or require. And it is for this reason 
that he loved his wealth, and was covetous of it ; it is 
for this reason that his desires for it and exertions to 
obtain it rushed on beyond the line of rectitude, and 
became foolish and sinful in the sight of Grod. 

2. We see further, however, that with this false esti- 
mate of the value of his riches, his mind was fixed on 
the lowest object or end to which he could devote 
them. This object was mere personal gratification. 
Hence the plans which he lays in his own mind, and 
which are expressed in these words : " And I will say 
to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for 
many years ; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." 
The only end indicated here as having any place what- 
ever in his contemplation is worldly pleasure ; the 
gratification of personal desire and ease. This cer- 
tainly is the lowest end for which any man can live, 
and yet it was the highest end in all the schemes and 
purposes of this prospered individual. The idea of 
doing good with his means, and of endeavoring in the 
enjoyment and use of them to benefit others, enters 
not into his thoughts. "Where shall I bestow my 
goods?" is the anxious question; and when he has 
decided this, he settles down on the selfish and sensual 
aim of life, to eat, drink, and be merry. His only care 
and solicitude are for himself ; and in even this direc- 
tion they are only for the grovelling and perishing 
delights of earth. 

3. We see further still, that with this false estimate 



214 THE COVETOUS RICH MAN. 

of his riches, and this unworthy end to which he pro ■ 
posed to devote them, there was in his mind an unwise 
calculation and dependence upon them. This we see 
in two respects. There was in the first place a com- 
placent assumption that his riches would remain per- 
manently with him. " Thou hast much goods laid 
up for many years." He evidently forgot, in the ex- 
citement and splendor of his plans, that change and 
uncertainty hang over every condition in life, and that 
even riches, however secure for the present, may by 
some contingency in the future, " take to themselves 
wings and fly away." He forgot that the Providence 
that had so suddenly enriched, could as suddenly im- 
poverish him. He forgot that while calculating so 
joyously on the permanency of his wealth, the many 
years that rose so grandly to his vision might fail in 
reality to prove so many days, and that from the pin- 
nacle of abundance he might descend quickly or im- 
perceptibly to the very depths of want. Besides this, 
there was a complacent assumption also that he would 
be blessed with a long life in which to enjoy his riches. 
" For many years." He seems from this to have taken 
it for granted that death to him was yet far off. He 
speaks as if there was no such thing as mortality, or 
as if it was to be surely and indefinitely postponed to 
him. " For many years." Truly there is no suspicion 
here that life is only a short and fleeting things no 
apprehension that it might in the revolution of one 
year, instead of many, yes, one day, close, and all be 
over ; no impression of its frailty, its uncertainty, its 
rapid flight. " For many years." Ah ! how blind, 
how inconsiderate, how worldly is this ! Had he never 



THE COVETOUS EICH MAN. 215 

seen a friend or neighbor die ? Had he never stood 
by the dying-bed of some familiar acquaintance, or of 
some poor fellow-creature at least, cut down by the 
stroke of death, and removed from this to the eternal 
world ? Had he never followed such an one to the 
house appointed for all living, and there reflected what 
in a little time was sure to be his own lot and destiny? 
Or had he never felt in himself the pains and infirmi- 
ties common to human nature, the indications of dis- 
ease, the premonitions of death, and by these been 
admonished that life is not so sure and certain a pos- 
session, but a feeble light that may go out in a day, 
a tender thread that may break in a moment, a shadow 
that may quickly vanish and be gone? " For many 
years." No — it was not the voice of wisdom in the 
rich man that said this ! It was not a sober review of 
life as it is ; not a calm and judicious comparison of 
its prospect with its uncertainty ; not a fair balancing 
of its securities with its dangers, that induced this con- 
fidence, and led to this utterance. INTo ; it was incon- 
sideration, it was worldliness, it was the infatuation of 
covetousness and sin: it was a want of seriousness, 
of spiritual impressions, of concern for the soul. 

And now do you not perceive in these views and 
feelings which this individual entertained with respect 
to his riches, the indication and the manifestation of 
folly ? Surely no wise and reflecting man can be thus 
deceived and deluded by the perishing possessions of 
earth. To regard these things as our chief good ; to 
place the heart upon them as the dearest and highest 
object in the range of our pursuits ; to use them and 
pervert them for the low and ignoble purpose of mere 



216 THE COVETOUS EICH MAN. 

personal gratification ; to calculate on them as abiding 
and permanent ; to assume amid the dangers and un- 
certainties of life that many years are pleasantly await- 
ing us in the future, in which we may find comfort 
and luxury in our plenty and opulence, and thus 
forget that we are mortal and every moment liable 
to surrender all that is dear and delightful to us on 
earth — truly, if there is folly in any thing, if there 
is a want of wisdom, and prudence, and manly fore- 
thought in any plan or conduct in life, there is this 
folly, this presumption and infatuation in such a course 
as this. And so, as we have remarked before, God 
himself regards it. He considers every man who 
schemes and acts and deports in this manner as blind 
and wicked, wasting the precious season of his proba- 
tion, perverting the designs of His mercy to him, and 
striking the ruinous bargain of gaining the world and 
losing his soul. 

II. But it is time to consider now the consequences 
in which this course of folly resulted. These are inti- 
mated in our text, and they were of the most serious 
and momentous character. It is not possible seriously 
to refer to them without exciting the deepest and 
strongest emotions of the soul. There are times when 
the mind can hardly bear the weight of its own 
thoughts and feelings ; it is so here, when it is sum 
moned to survey the dreadful consequences of a life 
of worldliness, and to connect the folly of sin with the 
issues and wages of sin. Yet we may not shrink from 
this calling, and should not. It is proper that we 
should consider what the end of our conduct shall be ; 



THE COVETOUS RICH MAN. 217 

to pause amid the gajeties and bewilderments of earthly 
pleasure and pursuits, and ponder well the course we 
are selecting, and the ultimate consequences to which 
it is leading. He who refuses to do this, betrays the 
guilt and danger lurking in his path, and may be 
lamented and admonished as one who is bent on 
destruction, and who yet refuses to understand or to 
care for his state. He is rushing headlong toward a 
precipice, and he will not open his eyes to see, nor 
give heed to the voice of warning uttered and urged 
behind him. 

What then were the consequences of the rich man's 
folly? 

1. You will perceive from the language in which 
the Almighty addressed him in the text that one con- 
sequence, and a serious one too, was divine disapproba- 
tion. "Thou fool!" — thou unwise and imprudent 
man ! — certainly implies this. Disapproval and rebuke 
could not be more decidedly expressed. And think 
what it is for a rational and immortal being, one ac- 
countable for his conduct, to receive from God such a 
judgment in regard to his ways. The disapprobation 
of men, particularly when we are conscious of wrong, 
is to us all a source of more or less disquietude. More 
especially is this the case, if the good and the esteemed 
thus express their dissatisfaction and dislike. But 
what is the disfavor of men, however great and good 
they may be, compared with the disfavor of Grod? 
And yet every covetous, worldly, ungodly man, seek- 
ing and loving the things of this world, and banishing 
Grod from his thoughts, is in this way resting under 
His frown, and occupying the fearful position of one in 
10 



218 THE COVETOUS RICH MAN. 

whom He is not, and can not be, pleased. You may 
think lightly of it, but it is a serious result of your sin ; 
you may care nothing now about it, but the time is 
coming when you will see and feel that it is an im- 
mense and an awful calamity. So this man found it, 
and so will all who take this course. 

2. But this language implies further, as a conse- 
quence allied to this, that when God, in the exercise of 
his sovereignty, called him to leave the world, he was 
unprepared to meet the summons. " This night thy 
soul shall be required of thee : then whose shall those 
things be?" This address or inquiry, "Then whose 
shall those things be, that thou hast provided?" seems 
to convey an idea of unfitness for departure. As if 
He had said, you place your whole affections on these 
things ; you have expended all your time to acquire 
them, and now you think and care for nothing else ; 
you have no other hope, no other trust ; but what can 
these things do for you now ? In life, properly used, 
they might have availed you something ; but they be- 
long to earth, and you can not carry them with you. 
What can you find in them to give you a safe intro- 
duction into the world of spirits ? Alas ! they are of 
no use. They can not help you, and yet you have no 
other passport or preparation. This appears to be the 
import of the words. He is therefore unfitted for his 
change ! "What a sad result-! What a poor advantage 
from the possession of so much wealth ! 

3. Another consequence following on these, and giv- 
ing them a higher meaning and significance, was, that 
being thus destitute of divine favor, and unfitted for 
the summons to die and meet his account, nothing 



THE COVETOUS RICH MAN. 219 

awaited him m the world beyond but eternal poverty 
and wo. No pains had been taken to make provisions 
for that state; his only care and labor had been in 
reference to this world. He has no portion there ; he 
has provided none ; his only portion is here. Eich in 
time he must be poor in eternity ; eating, drinking, 
and being merry here, as his highest good, he must be 
destitute and miserable hereafter. He has gained the 
world, but lost his soul ; here he was comforted by the 
sinful pleasures of earth, now and forever he must be 
tormented by a separation and banishment from God. 
O sad result of worldliness! terrible wages of sin! 
How the mind shudders and recoils as brought in con- 
templation of it! And yet it is the legitimate, the 
natural consequence of impiety. All who thus live 
must expect just such a doom. 

Had I time I would try to apply this subject with 
the solemnity and earnestness it so eminently demands. 
To all -would I apply it ; not only to the rich, but to 
all who love the world more than they love God. You 
may -be worldly without being wealthy. Pause and 
consider [r Fix in your minds the concluding words 
of the parable: "So is every one who is not rich to- 
ward God." That is, so is every one who forgets God, 
and loves and places his heart on this world. There 
are many of you who are doing this, and the subject 
at this time should be a warning to you. Imitate no 
longer this man ! His path led to ruin, and there it 
will conduct you if you do not forsake it. Turn from 
it this day. Now come to Him who is the life, the 
truth, and the way. 



SERMON XIV. 

ON PARDON. 

"For thy name sake, Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great."— 
Psalm 25 : 11. 

Here is a most humble confession on the part of 
the Psalmist, that he was a great sinner. He does not 
try to conceal his iniquity, nor to excuse it, nor to pal- 
liate it, but he frankly acknowledges " that it is great. 
And yet he does not despair — does not allow himself 
to believe there is no mercy for him, but knowing that 
God is full of mercy, he bows down in the dust and 
prays: "For thy name sake, Lord, pardon my 
iniquity, for it is great." 

The truth contained in these words, and which I de- 
sire now briefly to illustrate, is this : there is pardon, 
on the ground of divine mercy, to those who will con- 
fess their iniquity, no matter how great that iniquity 
may be. None need despair ; none need fear nor hesi- 
tate to bow in supplication to the Almighty ; for if he 
is truly penitent, and is willing to confess and forsake 
his sins, he shall not be turned unregarded away. The 
apostle John has expressed this truth in another and a 
most unequivocal form, " If we confess our sins, He is 
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse 
us from all unrighteousness ; " and so too has the wise 
man, who declares : " He that covereth his sins shall 



ON PAKDON. 221 

not prosper, but he that confesseth and forsaketh them 
shall have mercy." 

I. In considering this subject for a short time we may 
notice in the first place the confession which it is neces- 
sary to make in order to obtain pardon. And here I 
remark that it is a confession originating, as did the 
Psalmist's, from a thorough conviction of sin. He felt, 
and so do all who properly approach God in penitence, 
that he was guilty and desperately wicked. The trans- 
gressions of his past life came crowding upon his recol- 
lection, and he realized how justly God might reject 
and cast him off forever. He felt, as he expresses him- 
self in another place: "Mine iniquities have taken 
hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up ; they 
are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my 
heart faileth me." And without this thorough convic- 
tion of our guilt no one can so confess to the Most 
High as to please him and insure his favor. All other 
confession would be unmeaning and unavailing. What 
God requires is a poor and deeply convicted heart, and 
such He will not despise. 

Again, it is a confession accompanied with a sincere 
sorrow for sin. Evidently the Psalmist felt this sor- 
row, as is attested by the humbleness and earnest fer- 
vor with which he prays. He was truly convicted, 
and as a consequence he was truly sorrowful. And so 
are all who acceptably confess their sins to God. Their 
hearts are broken and contrite. There is not merely a 
sense of guilt, but grief and overwhelming regret on 
account of guilt. There is a sorrow that takes hold of 
the very soul, that drinks up the spirit and opens 



222 ON PAKDON. 

within the breast a fountain of tenderness — a godly- 
sorrow that worketh repentance not to be repented of. 
And every man may be assured that he approaches 
God but to little purpose who does not feel something 
of this sorrow. The first thing such persons should do 
is to bow down before Him, and acknowledging their 
unconcern and insensibility, pray for a tender and con- 
trite heart. Without this they can never pray aright, 
never so confess their sins as to find pardon. 

Again, it is a confession attended with a full and un- 
reserved abandonment of sin. Had the Psalmist in his 
prayer for pardon still held on to his transgressions, 
that is, continued to live in carelessness and disobedi- 
ence, he would have felt himself condemned in the 
very act of offering the prayer. He knew perfectly 
well that if we " regard iniquity in our heart the Lord 
will not hear us;" and that "the sacrifices of the 
wicked," the prayers of those who love their sins and 
still pursue them, " are an abomination to the Lord." 
Consequently in his confession he renounced his sinful 
ways ; he turned from them with mingled remorse and 
abhorrence ; he commenced a new and better life. 
And so must we do, and so must all do, who would 
confess in a manner pleasing to the Almighty, and sav- 
ing to the soul. We must abhor ourselves and abhor 
our past conduct. We must renounce without hesita- 
tion or reserve all the paths of iniquity, and with an obe- 
dient heart turn to the Lord. The wicked man must 
forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts : 
all sin, however pleasant and inviting it may appear ; 
all, whether it relate to the heart or the life, must be 
totally cast off and resisted, or we can never expect 



ON PAKDON. 223 

forgiveness. And in this connection every man may try 
himself by an infallible rule, by which to ascertain the 
truth or falsity of his pretended penitence. If he still 
loves his sins and in any degree willfully adheres to 
them, he may be assured that he is yet in the gall of bit- 
terness and under the bonds of iniquity ; that he has 
never yet truly repented ; that he is as much this day 
as ever without God and without hope in the world. 
But if sin appears hateful to him; if he contemplates it 
with sorrow and repugnance of soul ; if he turns away 
from it with loathing and fear, as he would turn away 
from a nauseous and destroying poison ; if by prayer 
and watchful striving he is endeavoring to resist and 
overcome it, then he has reason to believe that his re- 
pentance is godly and sincere, such as meets with the 
approbation of the Most High, and will result in his 
salvation. 

I need not add that it is a confession leading to 
humble and earnest prayer for forgiveness. You see 
what was its effect upon the Psalmist's mind in this par- 
ticular. Seeing the guilt and ruin of his condition, and 
filled with deep and inexpressible remorse, he cries out 
from the depths of his soul for deliverance. He is in 
distress which tongue can not utter, and as his only 
relief he betakes himself to prayer. " Pardon my 
inquity" — "remember not my sins" — " Look upon me 
and have mercy upon me," are the expressions which 
his agonized spirit prompts him to utter. And all 
who are truly penitent are exercised in the same way. 
" God be merciful to me a sinner," is the sincere and 
urgent language of their hearts. In the words, or sim- 
ilar words, uttered by the Psalmist at another time, 



224 027 PAKDON. 

they exclaim : " Have mercy upon me, God, ac- 
cording to thy loving-kindness ; according to the mul- 
titude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgres- 
sions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and 
cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my trans- 
gression, and my sin is ever before me." 

II. Such, then, is the confession which we are to 
make if we desire and would obtain the pardon of 
our sins. To none but those who do thus confess to 
God is pardon ever offered or intimated. The self- 
righteous, the unconvicted, the unconcerned, has no 
ground to expect it, and in his present state can never 
receive it. It is for the humble and repentant, they 
who are poor and contrite and tremble at the word of 
God, who feel their sins, and who confess and forsake 
them — it is for them, and them alone. But for them, 
we bless God, there is pardon, and this with absolute 
certainty. No matter who they are, nor what have 
been their transgressions, if they are truly penitent they 
shall be surely accepted. The amount and aggrava- 
tion of their sins constitute no ground of doubt in re- 
gard to this matter. Though, they are the worst and 
most criminal that man has ever committed, extending 
through many long years of darkness and indifference, 
yet in this circumstance there is no cause to fear : if 
they are truly convicted and sorrowful, and by re- 
nouncing their former ways are calling upon God for 
mercy, they may rest assured that He will not turn a 
deaf ear upon them, but will hear, and answer, and de- 
liver them. 

And this, you perceive, is the inference which we 



ON PARDON. 225 

are led to make from our text. David was not deterred 
from praying for pardon because his iniquity was great ; 
on the other hand he urges this consideration in his 
prayer as a reason why he desired pardon. He knew 
that the greater his iniquity, the greater of course was 
his need of forgiveness ; and he knew that God, who 
is abundant in goodness and truth, would not dis- 
regard and reject him in his distress. And the confi- 
dence which he felt all sinners may feel, and the salva- 
tion which he experienced may we all experience, if 
like him we have a broken and a contrite spirit. And 
this, now, is the other point in our subject which I 
wish to bring before you and encourage you to lay 
hold of in these remarks. The point is, that when we 
have truly confessed our iniquity before God, we may 
hope for pardon on the ground of his mercy, no mat- 
ter how great that iniquity has been. Though it be 
of the vilest character, and deepest dye, without pallia- 
tion and without parallel, yet if we are sorry and will 
give it up, He will most certainly receive and abundant- 
ly forgive us. 

The first remark I offer, to impress you with this 
truth is, that the mercy of God, which we recognize as 
the source of pardon, is infinite and unlimited. 

It will not, of course, be doubted by any who hear 
me that pardon is indeed an act of divine mercy alone. 
On no other ground did the Psalmist pray for it, and 
on no other can any man ever expect it. There is no 
other eye that can pity but the eye of Mercy, and there 
is no other arm that can bring salvation. And this is 
very obvious when we recollect that man in his unre- 
newed state has no merit by which he can claim, and 
10* 



226 ON PARDON. 

can perform no works by which he can secure, pardon 
and acceptance. Strictly speaking man has no merit 
whatever. He is a fallen and depraved being, and as 
such he has not only forfeited the favor of God, but 
has experienced the loss of all moral worth and excel- 
lence sufficient to recommend him to the saving mercy 
of God. In the significant language of the Apostle, 
there dwelleth in him no good thing. Neither is it 
possible for man in this condition to perform any good 
works sufficient to make up for this absence of moral 
goodness and merit. Good works, such as spring from 
a right principle and are acceptable to God, can not 
be performed prior to regeneration ; and admitting 
that they could be, still they could not atone for past 
sins and transgressions. No created being can do at 
any time more than his duty. Entire obedience and 
continual good doing are required of him. His line 
of obligation is not any particular amount of service, 
but his capacity for service. Consequently if he has 
been guilty of transgressions or of short-coming at any 
time or in any respect, he can never by any thing he can 
do make an atonement for that fault. It must stand 
forever against him, so far as his good deeds can ex- 
tend, though no additional sin should ever afterwards 
appear in his history. And from this it is clear that 
if man is ever saved it must be upon the ground of 
divine mercy. He can not save himself, and there is 
no being in the universe, except the Supreme, against 
whom he has committed all his sins, that can save him. 
If He does not pity him, he must remain in his guilt ; 
if He does not deliver him, he must perish. 

But this mercy we know God does exercise toward 



ON PAKDON. 227 

our sinful race. He is full of benevolence and com- 
passion, and though. He might have passed us by in 
our ruin, and left us to reap the consequences of our 
iniquity, he has not done it, but has stooped to regard 
and relieve us. And now the thought on which I 
wish to fix your minds is, that the mercy which God 
thus exercises toward our race is infinite. Springing 
from the deep fountain of his eternal nature, it is with- 
out limit or measure. It knows no bounds, it can not 
be encompassed. It is as vast and expansive as his 
own immensity. But if this is so, do you not see how 
truly it may be said that there is pardon for the great- 
est iniquity? Surely if pardon proceeds from the 
mercy of God, and if this mercy is infinite, then no 
guilt can be so great that it may not be forgiven. That 
which is infinite can not be outmeasured; and sin, 
therefore, however great, can not outmeasure the mercy 
of God. All crimes, great as well as small, come alike 
within its scope ; and no man, however wicked he has 
been, can go so far as to say : " Now the eye of pity 
will never again look upon me, and God can not any 
longer be disposed to forgive me." No ; great as are 
your sins, the mercy of God is greater still ; and if you 
will confess and forsake them, you most certainly will 
find pardon. 

The next remark I make to illustrate this truth is, 
that the atonement of Christ, through which the mercy 
of God finds way to our race and becomes available, is 
also infinite and unlimited. This remark will recall to 
our view the scheme and method of our salvation. It 
is not enough that God should be well disposed toward 
us; that he is benevolent and should consequently 



228 ON PARDON. 

pit j us in our fallen and ruined condition ; it is neces- 
sary that some way should be devised in which he can 
consistently manifest his sympathy, and actually com- 
miserate and save. This he could not do in a mere pre- 
rogative exercise of sovereignty. For as a sovereign 
he is not only kind and merciful, but righteous and 
true : or in the language of the apostle in describing 
his law, " holy, just, and good" — not only good, but 
holy and just. In dispensing mercy, therefore, to of- 
fenders, it must be in such a form as to comport with 
the 'holiness of his character and the righteousness of 
his government. His law must be magnified and made 
honorable. In a word, justice must be satisfied, and 
its claims in no sense disregarded. The only way in 
which this could be done is that which has been re- 
vealed to us in the Scriptures of truth, and which alike 
displays the divine wisdom and goodness. It is 
through the atonement of Jesus Christ. And as there 
is no other way in which mankind can be saved, ex- 
cept through the exercise of divine mercy, so there is 
no other medium except through the atonement. It is 
through this that mercy comes to us ; and but for this 
medium it could never reach nor find us. u There is 
no other name given under heaven, among men, where- 
by we must be saved," and this is the only hope that 
has been or can be offered to us. 

But this is enough. The atonement is God's own 
method, and it is a glorious and sufficient method, to 
save our ruined world. Through it the unbounded 
mercy of God has full and unrestricted scope. It is a 
scheme in perfect harmony with his vast and immeas- 
urable benevolence. Like that benevolence indeed it 



ON PARDON. 229 

is infinite — infinite m its virtue and efficacy, infinite in 
its sufficiency and adaptation. And now our argu- 
ment is, that because the atonement is infinite and un- 
limited in its ability to save, therefore there is pardon 
for all, even the greatest iniquity. If it is infinite 
then, like the mercy of God which it conveys to our 
race, it as completely encompasses the worst as it does 
the least offenses ; all come alike within the range of 
its efficacy, and may with equal certainty be brought 
to God for forgiveness. There is no such thing as sin- 
ning to such a degree as to outreach its merit or its 
sufficiency to avail for us. And I feel myself author- 
ized when I contemplate what God has done to recon- 
cile the world to himself in Jesus Christ, to say to all 
and to the most daring transgressors : " You need not 
despair ; if you are penitent and desire pardon, all you 
have to do is to go to God and he will give it to you ; 
for so sure as his Son has died and become a propitia- 
tion for your sins, so sure will he receive you if you 
come to him." Yes, we preach a free and a sufficient 
salvation — -free for all, sufficient for the sins of all. 

But I remark further, to illustrate this truth, that 
the condition on which salvation through the atone- 
ment is suspended has no reference whatever to the 
greatness of our iniquity. It is to be remembered, 
after all that has been said respecting the abundance 
of God's mercy and the provisions of the Gospel, that 
mankind are not saved unconditionally and by force 
of circumstances. It seems to be inconsistent with the 
righteousness of the divine government to save us in this 
way. At any rate we know that conditions are an- 
nexed to a personal participation of redeeming mercy, 



230 ON PARDON. 

and that none but those who comply with these con- 
ditions will be finally accepted. But these conditions 
are not complicated nor difficult, but easy and univer- 
sally practicable. They may be summed up in the 
requirement to believe or trust in Jesus Christ. This 
every penitent, confessing his sins in the manner we 
have described, is prepared to do. Convinced of his 
guilt and danger, and of his insufficiency to help him- 
self, he is in a state of mind fitting him to cast himself 
upon the atonement of Christ ; and when he does this 
there is pardon granted, and salvation secured. And 
this condition, you see, does not regard in any way 
the magnitude of our sins. It can not be in any man- 
ner affected by this consideration. It is to exercise 
faith in Christ, and this you may do as well with the 
burden of great as of small offenses. There is no pro- 
viso nor restriction in the condition as Christ has him- 
self expressed it ; on the other hand he has ordained 
and proclaimed it without the least shape or shade of 
modification. " Whosoever believeth," is the broad 
and unreserved announcement with which he lays it 
before us. Not, you observe, "Whosoever believeth," 
unless his iniquity is great, unless he is hoary -headed 
in crime, unless he has sinned against light and know- 
ledge, unless he has provoked Me by his daring deeds 
and repeated rejections of pardon — no; but empha- 
tically and absolutely, " Whosoever believeth ;" as if 
he had said : "It matters not what his transgressions 
are ; let them be as innumerable as the stars for multi- 
tude ; let them be of the vilest, the most flagrant, and 
the most provoking character ; let them be the most 
and the worst that man has ever committed, yet if he 



oisr pakdon. 231 

will trust in me, with, a broken and contrite heart, he 
shall be saved." 

And from this view of the subject again we see how 
true it is that all who will confess and forsake their sins 
may find mercy. If the only condition required of 
such is to trust in Christ, and if this condition has no 
reference to the greatness of our sins, and is not affect- 
ed by it, then certainly every penitent has ground to 
hope for pardon. There is nothing in the way but 
his own unbelieving heart ; the number and aggrava- 
tion of his sins are no obstacle whatever; let him 
believe and free and full forgiveness will be dispensed 
to him. 

But I remark in the last place that the promises of 
Grod are so expressed as directly to include the greatest 
sins and the worst offenders. Grod has done more for 
us, great and indescribably gracious as it is, than to 
make our salvation possible. Along with, the rich and 
glorious provisions that he has made he is striving in 
every consistent method to induce us to accept of of- 
fered mercy, and turn from our sins. Among other 
things he is continually encouraging us with his pro- 
mises — promises of peace, of certain reconciliation to 
him, of joy and happiness, and of everlasting life. 
These promises are scattered like so many rich, and 
brilliant gems through his word, meeting the eye on 
almost every page, and cheering the heart with their 
sunshine and hopeful assurance. And these promises 
are not made for the milder and less daring offenders, 
but for one and all, the basest, the most degraded, the 
most abandoned. All are included, but the worst and 
most hardened are especially named. 



232 ON PARDON. 

There is certainly no exception made made against 
any class of offenders in the general promises found in 
the Scriptures, to our guilty race. Surely when the 
Almighty says, " Look unto me all ye ends of the 
earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and besides me 
there is no Saviour," there is no intimation that any of 
the human family may become so wicked that he will 
not receive them. Neither is such an intimation to be 
found in connection with any promise in this blessed 
book. There is always the assurance given that all 
may come, and that none need despair. But as if this 
was not enough, and as if to take away all ground or 
temptation to fear, special promises are made, in which 
the greatest sins and sinners are particularly mentioned. 
One instance of this is found in the 1st chapter of Isaiah, 
where the Almighty remonstrates with such solemnity 
and tenderness with the rebellious Jews. After setting 
forth their sins in all their base and ungrateful charac- 
ter, he says in his unwillingness to cast them off and 
destroy them : " Come now, and let us reason together ; 
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as 
white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they 
shall be as wool." Here, in the epithets " scarlet"- and 
£, 'red like crimson," the worst forms of iniquity and 
guilt are referred to ; more significant expressions 
could not be employed ; and yet God says of such sins 
that they may be pardoned ; the scarlet shall be white 
as snow, the crimson shall be as wool ; assuring us that 
no crimes can be too enormous for mercy. 

Another instance is found in the 55th chapter of 
this same prophecy. In this chapter God addresses 
not only the Jews, but in a permanent exhortation all 



ON PARDON. 233 

wayward and rebellious sinners. He warns them to 
forsake their sins, and to persuade them to do so, as- 
sures them in the most positive manner of his readiness 
to receive and pardon them. His language is : " Seek 
ye the Lord while he may be found ; call ye upon him 
while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, 
and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; and let him re- 
turn unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, 
and to our Grod, for he will abundantly pardon. For 
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your 
ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens 
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than 
your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." 
Here he admonishes sinners to turn from their wicked 
ways and seek him, and encourages them*to do so with 
the promise that he will " abundantly pardon." To 
illustrate his willingness to pardon all, even the worst 
transgressors, he adds : " For my thoughts are not 
your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways." In 
these words he is declaring his method of forgiving 
sins, and affirms that it differs unspeakably from the 
ways of men in regard to this matter. Men will for- 
give one another only with restrictions and modifica- 
tions. They will forgive if the offense was not in- 
tended ; or if it is a solitary and single instance ; or if 
it has no particular aggravation ; or if adequate satis- 
faction can be presented ; but it is not so with the 
Almighty. He will forgive, though our offenses were 
intended ; though they are numerous and innumer- 
able ; though they are aggravated in character and by 
the most peculiar circumstances ; though they been 
continued long and without interruption ; and though 



234 ON PAKDON. 

we can make no kind of satisfaction. All this avails 
nothing if we are penitent, for his thoughts are not as 
our thoughts, nor his ways as our ways; for as the 
heavens are higher than the earth, so is his scheme of 
granting pardon higher than the thoughts and ways of 
men in this particular. Here, then, is a declaration in- 
cluding surely the worst of offenders. 

Had I time I might show how perfectly these pro- 
mises agree with the promises of the ISTew Testament. 
I might exhibit the significance of the Saviour's declar- 
ation, when he says, "I come not to call the right- 
eous, but sinners to repentance ;" and Paul's, wnen he 
says, " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all ac- 
ceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save 
sinners, of whom I am chief;'''' and of numerous similar 
attestations. But it can not be necessary. You know 
that these promises are abundant and full, and that 
they leave no one the least ground to fear. And this 
establishes the truth we are considering. Surely from 
this view all can perceive that there is pardon for all, 
even the worst, sinners, who will confess their iniquity 
to God. 

But I can not pursue these reflections any further, 
nor is it needful. It must be you all believe this 
truth. You will go home rejoicing in it. Some down- 
cast penitent may go to his room and on his knees 
with fresh courage enter into the liberty of the Grospel. 
Perhaps, too, some hardened transgressor may feel 
his cold heart a little warmed within him as he sits 
quietly down and considers this consoling truth. I 
pray that it may do you all good ; lead you to hate 
sin more, to love the Saviour more, and to devotg, 
yourselves more fully to his service, g g 3 



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